Broken Parts
by Backstroker98
Summary: Danielle Conrad was Erudite who dreamed of Dauntless. She wanted to be brave, something she thought only certain people could be. But while at Dauntless, she begins to fall for her trainer, Eric. She knew him once and little does she know, she will be the cause for his downward spiral which turns him into the Eric we all know. More info inside ERIC/OC I DO NOT OWN DIVERGENT
1. I Know Where I Belong

**A/N: Hey everyone so I got the idea for a Divergent fan fic after reading the books and watching the movie, so I figured I would finally write it. I was drawn to the Eric character because he is such a mystery to me and I thought he was perfect to center a story on. Characters like him I love to write around where you don't know a lot about them and you can kind of have a free span of options to write. In the books he is so harsh and cruel, so I wanted to give him reason for being like that. I've seen a few stories similar to the kind I am writing, so any feedback will be strongly encouraged. The story will follow Eric and my OC Danielle Conrad and their romance. It takes a years after Four and Eric transfer to Dauntless, so it would be the year before Tris transfers. The events in this story will be the reason why Eric is so ruthless and cold. I own nothing from Divergent or the series, only my OCs and original ideas. **

**OOOOO**

_Danielle_

I have always had this theory. Well it's not as much a theory as it is reasoning. I am supposed to be intelligent, you see. I was born in Erudite and brought up to be an eventual leader of the faction by my parents, but I didn't _want_ to be Erudite. As much as I love my family and the people I have made the acquaintance of in my sixteen years, I was not meant to be Erudite. I don't have the want or desire to live in a classroom my whole life, but the only other faction that ever stuck out to me would be Dauntless. It wasn't because they were so different from the rest, it was because they were brave. Now this is my theory or reasoning:

Everyone is smart and there are different ways to be smart instead of just book smart. That's why I didn't like Erudite. Everything was based off of something in a book rather than learning from real life experiences. You know, life lessons. Abnegation never really stuck out to anyone, but my thing is that in this world, it is okay to be a little selfish at times. It is neither a crime nor a poor trait. The same goes for Candor. Honesty is a great virtue to have, but telling small white lies is sometimes needed. A person should not have to live their life telling nothing but the truth. It is one thing to lie time and time again, but it is another to tell a little fib once in a while. Then there is Amity who are always so kind and peaceful. The problem with that is some people don't deserve the kindness. And as far as the peacefulness goes, a world will never exist where there is pure peace. There will always be frustration and tension, even if the faction system is meant to create "ever lasting peace". If we had ever lasting peace, we wouldn't have a fence guarding the city.

But here is the thing about Dauntless: they are brave. Anyone can be intelligent, selfless, kind, and/or honest. But bravery takes a certain kind of strength and will. Bravery is a trait not everyone can possess. Some people are not brave to face their fears or step into the world of fighting. Fear can do two things to a person: shut them down or wake them up. Every Dauntless member I have met seems to get a thrill from the adrenaline rush and just come alive when they face something some would describe as terrifying. I mean they jump on and off trains and climb up buildings. They just come alive and are free. They are free.

I do not want to wear blue all my life and have long, stringy brown hair that is always pinned up so it doesn't fall in my face. I do not want to have a pencil tucked in my ear and a notebook in hand at all times. I want to wear black and have my hair down with piercings in my ear and a gun in my hand. All you do in Erudite is learn throughout your life. It's as if every room you are in is a classroom and everyone is a teacher in some way. Even when I'd get home from a day of school, I would still be taught by my mother and father on various subjects and topics because they always say that there is no such thing as knowing too much. But in my opinion it is sometimes to not know a few things. Mystery is a great thing in life and some things are better off not knowing.

Very few teenagers transfer every year from other factions. Normally about anywhere from five-eight will transfer from each faction so there are about twenty-five to forty transfers overall. Most of the transfers come from Candor and Amity because when you are born into Dauntless, Abnegation, or Erudite, you are raised to stay within your faction. If you leave Dauntless, you're a coward, if you leave Abnegation, you're selfish, and if you leave Erudite, you are foolish. I remember last year there were five transfers overall from Erudite. Three girls transferred to Candor and two boys transferred to Dauntless. The one boy I remember because when he left, his parents were crushed. His name was Eric. That's all I really remember about him. That and he was great at math and had these eyes that you could get lost in. They were a grey color and whenever you looked at them, it was like he was looking into your soul. They were just so…mesmerizing.

I know that the Dauntless initiation is difficult. They teach you to fight, to shoot, and have you face your worst fears in a simulation. I know this because my mother is one of the scientists who make the serums they use for simulations and my father is an Erudite leader. They expect me to be a version of them to carry on the Conrad name, but I will be doing no such thing. I don't care if my aptitude test comes back one hundred percent Erudite, we are allowed to choose whatever faction we want. Ever since I was young I knew where I belonged. I knew who I was and the life I wanted to live. The choices we make in our life make us the person we are. They define us. But bad people can make good choices and good people can make bad choices, too. The same way an intelligent person can make a stupid one. Maybe it isn't as much our choices as much it is our perspectives and beliefs. What we stand for and believe in. I think that's what makes everyone who they are. Jeanine Matthews always says that the future belongs to those who know where they belong. I will choose Dauntless. I will choose to be brave. I will choose to be free.

**This is kind of short, but I wanted to just set it up for everyone reading. I promise the next chapters will be longer! **


	2. I'll Miss You

The night before my aptitude test, I was sitting in my room reading a textbook about the different serums that existed. There a few different kinds of serums that had different intentions for its use. The truth serum, peace serum, memory serum, and simulation serum all targeted different parts of the brain while the death serum and paralytic serum targeted your body as a whole. We use the serums to help with the whole "ever lasting peace" objective and to make the simulations we use for things like the aptitude test. There is an existence in our world where some people can withstand the serums and be aware that they're in a simulation. It's called Divergent. The true definition is to be different, but in our world it means they can't be defined as one thing or controlled. Many believe that they threaten our system and could disrupt peace, but I don't believe in that. As an Erudite I should in no way think of Divergents in a good way, but I do. I think it is unfair that we are all defined to one faction and we can't be intelligent _and_ selfless _and_ honest _and_ kind _and_ brave. Why of do we have to be just one thing?

The knocking on my door broke me from my thoughts. "Come in." I said. The door opened and both of my parents came walking in. My mother, who is tall and thin with long brown hair like mine sat on my bedside. She and I looked alike in many ways. I had her hair, her blue eyes, and slim figure. I was given my father's small nose and crooked smile, as well as his hint of sarcasm. My parents loved me, they always made sure I knew that, but they had high standards of me since I was their only child which made me feel guilty for wanting to defect to Dauntless.

"Danielle may we speak to you for a moment?" my father asked as he sat on the opposite side of my bed. I closed my book and gave them my full attention. "Tomorrow is your test," my mother began. "And no matter what faction you get, you are welcome here, with us."

"We will love you no matter what." My father added.

"Even if I was a Divergent?" the words left my mouth before I could stop them. My parents looked at me in surprise.

"Why would you think you're Divergent?" my mother pressed.

"I don't _think_ I am, but there is always the possibility."

A breath escaped my father's lips. "Ellie…" he said. Ellie was his nickname for me when I was younger. We agreed that Dani was too common and overused so he called me Ellie instead. That was until I asked him to stop calling me it when I got older. Now he only uses it in serious times. "I would love you if you had the aptitude for every faction. You're my daughter. Our daughter." My father smiled at my mother and then looked back at me. "Whatever happens tomorrow, just know we love you."

"I love you, too." I reply, my voice an inch tall.

After that, my parents left my room. I decided to call it a night and put my books away so I could get a good night's sleep for tomorrow. I dressed in a simple blue nightgown and placed my glasses on my bedside table. Glasses were worn by most people in Erudite, but not to correct their vision. It just went with our intelligent nature. I closed my eyes and dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

**OOOOO**

When I walked into to the room where I'd be administered my test, I wiped my hands on my blue dress that went down to my knees. I didn't realize how nervous I was until the time had finally come. The room was plain and empty with a mirror on one wall and a chair in the center of the room. A man was at the controls and I knew right away he was Dauntless. He was dressed in all black and two piercings on his lips, two on his eyebrow, and one in his nose. His hair was cut into a buzz cut and he had a tattoo of a tree going down the inside of his right forearm with the roots expanding into his hand. It made me think he could have transferred from Amity.

"Take a seat." He instructed as he set up the computer.

I did as I was told and walked over to the chair, lying down in it. "Looks like I got a know it all." He commented when he saw my blue attire and glasses. I rolled my eyes as he held out a blue liquid in a vile to me. "I'm Logan." He says. "Drink this. It'll connect you to the simulation program that will help determine what faction you'll belong to. But I am pretty sure you already know all of this." I did.

I took the vile from him and raised it to his lips. I could smell the strong scent and I quick knocked it back. I never had taken any kind of serum before, so I didn't know what to expect. The serum was cold going down my throat and had a bitter taste. I didn't mind though. Once it was down, the man took the vile from me. "It will take a minute." He informed mer. "Good luck." The last thing I saw were his deep brown eyes before my eyes fluttered closed.

**Simulation**

When I open my eyes, I find myself in a large empty room. In front of me are two baskets, one with a knife and the other with cheese. "Choose." A woman's voice says. Thinking about it, I realize that if they are offering me a knife there may be danger in what's to come, but then why would there be cheese. "Choose!" the voice repeats. I am at a loss so I choose neither. The baskets disappear and I am left empty handed. That's when the growling begins and I find myself looking at a large, vicious dog that is across the room from me. Now I am wishing I had a knife. But it's too late and I have to deal with the situation at hand. I could run, but where would I go? The dog approached me and I just drop to my knees and watch as the dog approaches me and no longer poses a threat to me. He sniffs me and then licks my face. I laugh. It was smart not to choose the knife.

"Puppy!" a voice yells. Looking up I see a young girl on the other side of the room. The dog turns and growls once again. My face falls and when the dog takes off towards the girl, I get to my feet and run after it. I am not fast, but I am fast enough. I jump and tackle the dog. I expect to be met with a cold, hard floor, but instead I find myself on a bus that is empty with the exception of a man reading a newspaper. "Do you know this man?" he asks me. I notice that he has burn marks the skin of his face and arms. "Do you know this man?" he repeats as he shows me the front page of the newspaper where a man I feel like I should know is on the front page. I study his face, feeling as if I do know him, but then again what would happen if I told this man I do. "I don't." I say. He lowers the newspaper, allowing me to see how badly he is burned. "You would be helping me if you do." He tells me.

"I don't know him, I'm sorry."

**End of Simulation**

When I awake, my head is fuzzy and I am a little tired from the simulation. Logan looks at me in shock. "Just my luck." He says. I give him a puzzled look. "What?" I ask. He grabs my shoulder and makes me sit up. "What were my results?" I ask. He gives me a serious look. "Erudite." He tells me. My face falls. "And Dauntless." I look at him. I have two results. "Listen to me. You of all people should know what this means. You are cutting it pretty damn close here, but I don't think you are a…" his voice trails off. "You didn't choose the knife or choose the cheese and faced the dog. That gave you an Erudite result. You went after the dog to save the girl, that gave you a Dauntless result. You said you didn't know the man, that didn't give you any result."

"So I'm not a Div-"

"Don't say what you're about to say. I'm going to put Erudite into the computer as your result. Do not tell anyone about this."

Logan pulls me out of the chair and tells me to exit out the back. "Wait." I say. "What do I choose tomorrow?" If I have the aptitude for two factions, this may change things. I still want to be Dauntless, but if he tells me Dauntless isn't safe for me, I won't go. He looks at me. "Just get out of Erudite." Was all he said before closing the door. He didn't say don't choose Dauntless.

**OOOOO**

That night at dinner, it is quiet. My parents asked me how it went and I told them it went fine. They didn't ask for my result which was surprising, but fortunate on my part. I wouldn't have to lie to them. I eat my chicken and vegetables quietly as I think of tomorrow. Tomorrow I will choose Dauntless. I will choose the faction I have always wanted to be a part of. The one thing I won't be able to handle will be my parents' expressions when I cut my hand and drip my blood onto the hot, Dauntless coals. For some reason my mind wanders to Eric. He was the boy who transferred last year and I can't help but wonder what was going through his mind when he was up there. Was he nervous? Was he scared? I had heard that he went up there and didn't hesitate to choose Dauntless. It only took him a second to cut his palm and extend it over the coals.

I am also afraid that at the last minute I will choose to stay in Erudite for my parents' sake. I am their only child and have the fiery want to defect to another faction. Then I remember what Jeanine Matthews always says: _The future belongs to those who know where they belong._ I know where I belong. It is certainly not Erudite. Maybe if I didn't jump on that dog to save the girl I could stay, but I have an aptitude for two factions. Erudite is known for trying to exterminate Divergents and even though Logan said I was cutting it close, I couldn't take that risk. My parents' couldn't protect me. They would kill me.

"I think I'll have something you'll like." My mother's voice sounded, bringing me out of my thoughts. She stood up and went to the kitchen, returning with a delicious looking white cake with buttercream icing and plates. Erudite was known for their white cake, the same way Dauntless had amazing chocolate cake. (Or so I have been told). She placed the platter in the center of the table and I smiled. "Wow mom…thank you." I said. She cut the cake and put a slice on one of the plates before placing it in front of me. "You're very welcome." She replied as she took a slice for herself.

My parents and I ate our cake and there was more talking this time around, my mom telling me that they were developing a new serum and my father telling me about his day of teaching at school. I listened to every word they said and part of me knew I would miss this. I would miss my parents and I would miss my life with them. I was blessed with two amazing people I had the privilege of calling mom and dad, but it was my time to take my life into my own hands.

**OOOOO**

Johanna Reyes spoke at the choosing ceremony this year. The faction leaders alternate every year and next year it would be Erudite's turn. All the factions took their seats in their designated spots and it was like seeing a sea of blue in one area and then black and grey in another. Amity was a mix of reds and yellows and Candor wore both black and white so it wasn't as much of a solid sea of color as the other three factions. My father held my hand as we sat in our seats and before Johanna began speaking, he whispered "This is your choice, Ellie." into my hair. Then the ceremony began.

"Today is the say where all of you will take your life into your own hands." Johanna began. "You will all choose the faction in which you think you belong. This is the first decision you will make as an adult on your own. Do not feel pressured to choose a faction over another based on the virtues and way of living that exists there. This is the first step that will take you on the rest of your life. Let us begin."

The choosings go in alphabetical order and my last name starts with C. Never in my life was I so upset over this. I would choose Dauntless and have to sit in the room until the last teenager chose their faction. My parents would be a few areas over and I don't think I'd be able to handle it. The looks on their face I was expecting to see when they see me choose Dauntless; when I defect from Erudite.

Time seemed to go slow as each teenager chose their faction. There were a few transfers, the most surprising was one seeing a Dauntless transfer to Amity. My guess was that they didn't like violence and didn't want to be somewhere where violence occurred everyday. They wanted to live in a peaceful environment and lead a peaceful life.

"Danielle Conrad." Johanna Reye's voice sounded. My father squeezed my hand and then released it. Standing up, I wiped my hands on my blue dress. The dress was similar to the one I wore yesterday, but I wore a dark blue blazer over top this time. I walked down the steps, my flats making no noise as I walked. I approached the stage and Johanna handed me the knife. I pressed the blade to my skin and slid it across the surface of my palm. It stung, but it wasn't overly painful. Looking at the bowls, I saw the Erudite water right in front of me. What use to be clear water was now pinkish with the blood from other teenagers. Looking to my left, I saw the Dauntless coals. I held my hand out and squeezed it, allowing the blood to trickle down. The blood landed on the coals and made a sizzling sound.

"Dauntless." Johanna Reye's said.


	3. Becoming Dauntless

When I sit down with the rest of the Dauntless Initiates, I can't even look at my parents. I walk off the stage with a stoic expression on my face as the Dauntless cheer and clap and stomp their feet. One of the boy gets up and offers me their seat. I smile at him in thanks and take a seat. The people next to me and behind me pat my shoulders and back all while saying "Good choice" and "Welcome to the big leagues". I feel welcomed and almost as if I belong. I still look too Erudite in my blue dress and glasses. I don't think I will feel Dauntless until I look the part.

The rest of the ceremony passes by with some other teenagers transferring and other sticking to the faction they were raised in. It takes all my self-control not to look at my parents. My curious side wants to, but my sane side knows that if I look at them it may break me. I continue to rub my hands on my dress and focus my attention on the ceremony until it comes to a close. When it does, all the Dauntless stand up and are the first to the exit. They push their way through, me keeping up to the best of my abilities. Before I reach the door, I turn my head to look at my parents finally. I have to see them at least once before I leave. I _have_ to. I can see my mother is trying her best to keep it together, but I know that she is on the verge of tears. I can tell by her expression. My father has a saddened expression in his face, but when he sees me looking at him he gives me a nod. "Go." He mouths. I smile at him and fight back the tears threatening to make an appearance. I turn my head and catch up with Dauntless.

When we are outside, it isn't long before we are running. I wasn't over nor underweight and in decent shape, but my cardio needed work. We ran down the streets of the city in a pack and my heart beat was going a mile a minute. But this was the rush I dreamed of. The rush I have been craving. My heart was pounding, my legs were moving in long strides, and I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead and between my shoulder blades. Although running in a dress and flats was rather restrictive I was able to manage to keep up. My lungs burned and there was a terrible side stitch screaming in pain, but I hardly noticed. I was too happy. I was finally doing what I have been dreaming of.

We reached the train tracks and to get up to them, we had to climb up at least twenty feet to get up to them using metal pegs that ran up the sides of the beam. Everyone rushed to an open spot and I didn't hesitate to run over and start climbing. I gripped the pegs tight as I climbed, making my knuckles turn white. When I got to the top, someone helped pull me up and we went over to the side of the tracks. I couldn't help but think that if I didn't run or climb fast enough, I would have been just like that.

I stretched my fingers out as we waited for the train since they were cramped up from my tight grip. As I looked down I saw a few specks of white and even a couple of Erudite transfers I didn't realize defected since the rest of the ceremony I spent it in a numb state. Maybe initiation would be easier with some familiar faces.

The sound of the train caught everyone's attention and the Dauntless had excited looks on their face. They craned their necks to look down the tracks and had grins plastered on their face. "Everyone ready?" a male voice called out as the train got closer and they took off running down the tracks. I quickly ran with them, not wanting to risk falling behind. It didn't take long for the train to approach us and I watched as the Dauntless easily jumped and swung themselves into the train cars. I ran alongside the one door and even though it was stupid, I closed my eyes as I jumped. I grabbed the handle and allowed myself to let what I just did sink in. I could have fallen to the pavement below, but I didn't. "In the car Initiate!" a voice yelled. Not having to be told twice I slipped into the train car where there were a few other initiates panting out of breath. The ones anting were all transfers. I was among them.

I slid to the floor and sat next to a girl dressed in white. She was Candor. The girl also had shoulder length blonde hair and a pair of hazel eyes. In my opinion, she was rather pretty. "Still breathing there know it all?" she questioned. I chuckled as I caught my breath. "I'm good. How about you smart mouth?" I replied. The girl laughed. "At least you have a sense of humor. I'm Nina."

"Nice to meet you Nina."

We sat together on the train ride to the Dauntless compound and I asked her why she transferred. "Telling the truth all the time is exhausting." She told me. "Why'd you transfer?"

"Being taught your whole life would make you transfer too."

"Probably."

As we approached the compound, Nina and I stood up and looked out the window. We saw figures dressed in black jumping out of the train car. "We're…jumping?" Nina questioned. "Looks like it." I said. We walked to the front of the door, but stood on the other side of the car so we could get a running start. "On three." She said. "One….two…"

"Three!" I finished. We ran and leaped out of the car, flying through the air and onto the roof of a building. I wasn't prepared for the landing and hit feet first, but ended up falling and rolling across the stones. I felt a few stones dig into my skin and my dress and blazer got a few holes in it. I stood up, Nina getting to her feet as I did. "Well that was new." She commented.

The two of us walked over to the rest of the group where several other people stood which included a dark skinned man I knew was Max, the leader of Dauntless. "Initiates," he began. "Welcome. Just making it to the compound is something you should be proud of. We always have a few people that don't make it on the train or the roof." The way Max said it is what made me cringe. He didn't care about a bunch of sixteen year olds falling to their death even though they did it trying to be part of their faction. "You're not in the compound yet. To get in, you'll have to jump off this ledge to whatever is below."

Everyone looked at the ledge, including myself. "What's down there?" a voice asked. "You'll have to find out." Max replied. "Who's first?". I knew better than to jump first. I didn't know what was down there and I can be sure as hell I wasn't going to be the first one to find out. This was obviously a test of bravery, but in being brave isn't just about taking major risks and having courage. It's about doing what is smart and thinking things through as well. I had to know what was at the bottom before I jumped. I wasn't an adrenaline junkie nor was I a rebel.

The first jumper was a Dauntless-born. He went up to the ledge, looked down, took a breath, and jumped. We heard his screams echo off of the walls and in the air, but they came to an erupt stop. All the Initiates ran over to the ledge and looked down. I could vaguely make out a net as he bounced on it. "Who's next?" Max asked.

"Me." I said before anyone else could. The other Initiates stepped back and I got on the ledge. Looking down at the large hole I grew a bit scared. I slipped my blazer off and tossed it to the side. I closed my eyes. _Time to be Dauntless _I said to myself as I jumped outwards. My dress rode up from the wind that passed through me as I fell and my heart seemed to stop beating as I dropped through the air. Then I hit the net and I was able to breathe again. I bounced several times before finally coming to a rest on the net. I took a deep breath. I jumped on and off a train and then off a building all within about thirty minutes. The rush was more than I ever imagines it.

From the side, someone pulled on the net and I rolled over. Looking straight ahead, I met two grey eyes. I knew those eyes. He held his arms out and grabbed ahold of me by my sides before lifting me off the net and setting me down. He looked at me. I knew those eyes, but I didn't know this person. The Eric I knew in Erudite was not this muscular, had a full head of black hair, and was free of tattoos and piercings. Now he had his hair cut short, tattoos on his neck and forearms, and two piercings in his eyebrow. He was also had to me ninety-percent muscle. I couldn't help but think that his shirt was on the verge of ripping in two.

"What's your name?" his deep voice asked.

"It's uh…" I didn't want to say Danielle. That's who I was in Erudite. I was in Dauntless now.

"You can pick a new one if you'd like, but you only get to choose once." He informed me.

"It's Ellie. My name's Ellie." Even though it was my dad's pet name for me, I didn't want to forget who I was. I would always be Erudite born and raised, but I'd also be the one who transferred to Dauntless.

"Second jumper Ellie!" Eric yelled before meeting my eyes with his. "Welcome to Dauntless."

I was ushered off to the side while all the other Initiates jumped. Nina jumped fifth. Once everyone was in the compound, the transfers were separated from the Dauntless born. "Transfers will be training separately with me and Four." Eric told us, motioning to another man off to the side. He was slimmer than Eric, but still well built and the thing I noticed first was that his ears stuck out a little. "Dauntless born will be trained with Lauren, but you'll be ranked together. Rankings will help us determine what job you will have after initiation. Highest rankings will be free to choose, but low ranking initiates will get whatever is left. Most of the time you'll find yourself working in labor."

Lauren took the Dauntless born one way while Eric and Four led us another. We were given a tour of the compound and what was offered to us. They showed us where to buy clothes, the cafeteria, the chasm, and the pit. They also showed us the tattoo and piercing parlor which seemed to always be buzzing with life. I haven't even put any thought into what kind of tattoo I may want.

After the tour they led us to the dorm where all the transfers would be sleeping for the next ten weeks. Overall there were fifteen transfers. Seven Erudite and eight Candor. We were told to change into our Dauntless clothes and then to dispose of our clothing. I slipped my pants on under my dress and then slipped the blue fabric over my head. I quickly pulled my shirt on which of course was black. Now that I had the clothes, I was beginning to feel more and more Dauntless. When I reached for my glasses, I hesitated. I had no use for them, but they said to dispose of our clothing. Glasses weren't clothing. I tucked them under my pillow and gathered my clothes in my arms, walking them to the trash. I tossed them in the bin and looked down at myself. This was the start of my rest of my life.


	4. Right and Wrong

My first night in Dauntless was easier than I expected it to be. After being shown around the compound and settling into the dormitories, we were shown to the cafeteria where we ate dinner. I sat with Nina and a few other people who transferred from Candor and Erudite. It wasn't a large group, just Max and Ben, Candor transfers, and Candice and Lori, Erudite transfers. Both Max and Ben were tall and well built, but Max had short blonde hair and green eyes while Ben had longer black hair and brown eyes. Candice and Lori were similar in stature as well, both girls having healthy curves and long hair, but Candice's hair was red and curly whereas Lori had straight black hair.

We were up early in the morning the second day and taken to the training room where Eric and Four were. "Alright listen up." Eric's voice boomed. "There are three stages to Dauntless initiation: physical, emotional, and mental. In the physical portion you'll have the pleasure of either getting the crap kicked out of you or winning a fight against someone. You'll also be learning how to throw knives and shoot a gun. At the end of the first stage, you'll be ranked according to how you do in each part. Lowest ranking initiates will start off low in the next stage and believe me you do not want to start on the low side of things in stages two and three."

"Why not?" Nina asked.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Four stepped forward. "We'll be splitting the group of you in half. One half will train with me and the other half will train with Eric. There won't be any fighting against one another for a couple of day yet so right now focus on what your strengths and weaknesses are in combat." He told us.

We were given our groups and I was in Eric's group with Ben and Candice and five other Initiates. Eric taught us the basic stances and techniques and then put us into pairs of two to practice how to block kicks and punches. I was with Ben and he was the first one to throw the punches and kicks for me to block. He wasn't using full force so it wasn't too hard to block them, but as more time passed, it got a little harder. He started sending stronger kicks and punches and I had to move faster to block them. When the time finally came to switch, my hands, arms, and wrists, ached from all the hard contact.

It was easier for Ben to block my blows and I tried to pick up the pace to make it more difficult for him. There was a short struggle, but he quickly got a handle on it. On one of my last kicks he grabbed my ankle and my other foot slipped out from under me, causing me to fall onto the mat. "Stand much know it all?" Ben teased as he held a hand out to me. I smiled and took it, allowing him to pull me up. At the same moment, Eric walked by. I looked over at him and met his cold eyes with mine. He studied me for a minute as if he was trying to remember who I was. I doubt he'd remember me though; we barely ever spoke in Erudite. He occasionally lent me a pencil in class or we saw each other in the halls, but nothing about me stuck out from others. I was very unextraordinary and plain in my opinion.

After a few moments, Eric looked at Ben. "Keep working Initiates." Was all he said.

Ben and I both retook our stances and resumed what we were doing.

The morning passed by slowly and I quickly realized how all the Dauntless were in such good shape. The initiation alone must have whipped them into shape and in order to survive you had to keep up with the fitness. When we were walking to the cafeteria for lunch there were two or three small groups watching to others fight it out. I was worried about who I would have to fight a couple days from now because I wasn't tall, but I wasn't short and I didn't have much of an advantage against anyone. Most of the boys had a few inches on me and weighed more and the girls seemed stronger than I was. If I moved fast enough I might be able to get the jump on someone, but then again that would mean I would need to be faster than the other person.

After lunch, we picked on the fighting again and this time we were told to try to pin the other person on the ground for at least ten seconds. Both Eric and Four said not get too rough and keep it clean. "This won't count towards your rankings so don't worry if you get pinned down ten times. Just learn from what you're doing wrong." Four added. After that we were split back into our groups. Ben and I went over to the one mat and took our stances across from one another. Even though it didn't count towards rankings, I was still nervous about going up against Ben. He wouldn't hurt me intentionally, but he was a lot stronger than I was.

Ben lunged at me first and I easily moved out of the way, but he grabbed ahold of my arm and pulled me to the ground. I tried to squirm out of his grip, but like I said he was strong. He got me on my back and pinned me for ten seconds. Once the ten seconds were up, he helped me to my feet. First problem: I wasn't fast enough. I had to be faster.

The second time I was pinned I didn't put up a strong enough fight when Ben got me on the floor.

The third time I was pinned I didn't have enough leverage.

Every time I was pinned, I made sure I didn't make the same mistake again. Even though I didn't make the same mistake, I was making different ones and I just couldn't win against Ben. Eric walked over and watched us for a few minutes, walking away with a bored expression in his face. I don't blame him though. By the end of the day, Ben had pinned me ten times with me not even coming close to getting him on his back.

When we were dismissed for dinner as well as for the rest of the night, Eric's voice stopped me. "Ben always steps out with his left foot first." He said. I stopped and turned to look at him. He was near the one wall pulling his jacket on. "Use that to your advantage. You also leave yourself too open."

Eric walked closer to me and I watched him as he did. "When we get to the kind of fighting where punches and kicks are being thrown, you don't want to leave yourself open like that. Today was nothing compared how the days coming up will be." At this point he was standing right in front of me.

"Noted." Was all I managed to say. I really didn't know what else to say in all honesty.

Eric looked down at me and I felt my heart beat faster. "Anything else?" I asked. He shook his head and I turned and left the room to meet my friends for dinner.

When I got to the cafeteria, Nina asked where I was. "Eric needed to talk to me." I said as I put ketchup on my cheeseburger. "That guy is scary." She replied as she took a drink of water.

"So guys, Candice and I had an idea." Lori spoke up. "We're in Dauntless now, so shouldn't we get some tattoos?"

"I'm down for that." Ben said.

"Same here." Max seconded.

"Nina? Ellie?"

It was a good idea, but I wanted to wait a little longer to get a tattoo. I wouldn't know what to get and I wanted to start off with something less permanent first. Then I had an idea. "I was actually going to wait to get one." I told them. "But I think I am going to change my hair."

"Sounds good to me." Nina retorted with a smile.

After dinner Nina and I went to the hair salon while the other four went for tattoos. Nina already knew what she had in mind for her hair which was changing her blonde hair to dark brown with streaks of purple in it. For me I settled on cutting it so it reached down to just past my shoulders and changed my original light brown color to a shade of blonde with the tips dyed blue. When Nina and I saw our new hairstyles, we were both pleased. It seemed like every day we were becoming more and more Dauntless.

That night in the dorms, Candice, Lori, Ben, and Max all had new tattoos on their skin. Candice had the Dauntless symbol on one hip with the Erudite symbol on the other. Lori had flames going up the top part of her left arm, Ben had his chest done up with different patterns and designs that the tattoo artist said were "tribal", and Max had a lion's head between his shoulder blades. Overall, the tattoos looked amazing.

"When are you going to get one?" Lori asked me.

"After we're through stage one." I told her.

"Same." Nine added.

"Well you're hair looks awesome." Max told both Nina and I, playing with a lock of my new blonde and blue locks. "I like the blue, Ellie."

"I like the lion." I replied.

"Well I'm spent. We have more fighting tomorrow so let's get some rest." Ben suggested as he jumped into his bed.

Feeling the exhaustion from today creep up on me all at once, I changed into sweatpants and a tank top before slipping under the covers of my bed and closing my eyes. the last thing I thought before falling asleep was Eric telling me this: _"Ben always steps out with his left foot first. Use that to your advantage. You also leave yourself too open."_

I'd pin Ben tomorrow.

Hey guys! Hope you are all enjoying the story so far! If you can, please leave a review so I know what I'm doing good with and what could be better!


	5. Swinging Fists

The next few days passed by in a blur as the other Initiates and I were taught more and more each day in hand to hand combat. Every day was the same congruence of events. Wake up, eat breakfast, train until lunch, eat lunch, train until dinner, eat dinner, and then relaxation. I was finding it a bit difficult to maneuver myself through Dauntless because of how many winding hallways there were. It seemed like everyone took you to the opposite side of the compound that you wanted to be at. Since I didn't want to face the embarrassment of ending up lost, I stuck to the areas I knew. The pit was the center of life in Dauntless so it was always buzzing with people. The floor and walls were stone and the chasm was right next to it, water roaring below occasionally splashing a by passer's ankles.

The other area I knew as a landmark was the training room. Since I was walking down there every day at the same time, I quickly memorized a route to and from the training room back to the dormitories. The room was large with hard floors and high ceilings, but there were large mats on the floor where we fought one on one with one another. There were also punching bags off to practice individually and pull up bars to work out on.

The last places I marked as landmarks were the dormitories and the cafeteria. The dormitories were small and all fifteen transfers were crammed into it with one another; boys and girls. There were five girl transfers and ten boy transfers. There was Nina, Lori, Candice, me, and another girl from Candor-Cassie. Cassie transferred from Erudite as well making her the fourth transfer from my old faction. The other two transfers were boys named Keegan and Randy. Both of them seemed to be adjusting to Dauntless life easily, but they gave me the impression that they were like me and had planned on defecting to Dauntless. Besides Max, Nina, Ben, there were six other transfers from Candor-three boys and three girls. I didn't pay much attention to them since they stuck to their own little group just like I did. Because you have to remember in the end, we were all each other's competition.

On the fifth day we walked into the training room, my eyes wandered up to the high ceiling as they did everyday for some reason before they settled on the chalkboard with the pairs that were fighting. I was going up against Cassie. Over the course of the past few days I looked around at the other Initiates to see who was a good fighter and who was not. Unlucky for me, Cassie proved to be a fast learner. She had a good few inches on me and a bigger build, too which put her at an advantage. Even though she was in Four's group across the room, I did manage to see her pin Keegan more than once.

"First up Randy and Ben." Four announced as he and Eric stood off to the side of the ring as the Initiates circled around it. I gave Ben a supportive look as he and Randy stepped into the ring. Randy and Ben had similar builds, but Randy was sporting a bit more muscle. But for what he had in strength, he lacked in speed and Ben was fast. "You two will fight until one of you can't continue." Eric told them. "And trust me…you wanna be the one that comes out on top."

After Eric finished, Randy and Ben took their stances and circled each other. Nina stood to the left of me and Max was on my right, all three of us watching as the fight began. Randy lunged first and swung his fist at Ben's face, but he easily ducked out of it and caught Randy's arm. Ben drove his knee into Randy's ribs twice before he pulled himself out of Ben's grip. He stumbled at first and Ben saw this as an opening, but Randy swung his fist around and landed a punch on the side of Ben's face. I couldn't help cringe because just the sound made my skin crawl. It was Ben's turn to stumble and Randy kicked his side, causing Ben to fall onto the mat. When he went to stand up, Randy kicked him in the underside of his stomach which made him fall to the ground again on his side. When Randy went to kick him again Ben caught his foot and pulled him to the floor. He crawled over so he was above Randy and punched him across his face once and then twice. Randy's nose was bleeding at this point and Ben stopped when he saw the first splash of red.

"Did anyone say stop, Initiate?" Eric questioned. I looked over at the trainer and saw his emotionless expression. Ben looked at him as well before looking back at Randy who grabbed Ben by the front of his shirt and head butted him. Ben fell back and blood began running down his face before he even hit the mat. Randy went over and sent punch after punch across Ben's face as he stood over him. He landed five punches before Ben finally said to stop. Randy let go of him and stood up as he looked down at Ben. His face was covered in blood.

"Round One goes to Randy." Eric said as he put a mark on the board. Candice ran over and kneeled down next to Ben. She put a hand on the side of his face before helping him to his feet. He struggled at first, but then was standing straight. He had a hand on his nose in an attempt to stop the blood flow, but Four took him over to the side to get him cleaned up.

"Next up is Cassie and Ellie." Eric announced.

Max patted my shoulder before I stepped into the ring at the same time as Cassie. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore a stern, determined expression, her dark green eyes teeming with the need to fight…and win. Between her demeanor and new tattoo that went from her collarbone and up her neck in tastefully crafted line designs, she looked unrecognizable from what I remember in Erudite. She always wore he hair in a side ponytail and a peaceful expression on her face, always smiling at others.

As we took the ring, a sense of worry filled my stomach until I remembered where I was…I was in Dauntless. We circled each other for a few seconds, the two of us silently challenging each other to make the first move. I really wanted Cassie to attack first so I could get a better idea of how she operated in a fight. Did she dive right into it head first or play around with her opponent the way a leopard teased a defenseless antelope.

Turns out she dove right into it head first because after spending thirty seconds contemplating a plan in her head, she went for me.

She went to hook me in the jaw, but I caught her arm just in time. I surprised myself at seeing how fast my reflexes had become. Half a second after catching her arm, I punched her dead center in her face causing her to stumble back with a hand on her nose. I saw the anger in her eyes flare up like firecrackers and she went for me once again. This time she grabbed me by my hair and threw me to the ground. I wasn't able to catch myself and landed on the mat face first. Cassie came over and grabbed the back of my hair again and punched me across the face…hard. Pain spread across my head as I flopped like a fish onto the mat. Cassie flipped me onto my back and sent another punch across my face, but before she could do it a third time, I rolled away from her and got to my feet. I was seeing double and straightened it out just as she pursued me. I charged at her before she got to me and tackled her, the two of flying a short distance through the air and sliding off of the mat. The other Initiates moved out of the way and I saw Four walk back over as me and Cassie got up.

"Stop toying with each other, girls." Eric's voice sounded.

"Get back on the mat." Four told us.

"No, no, no let them go and see where this goes."

"Eric-"

"Four, let them learn."

Cassie went for me again and I ducked out of the way again only for her to catch my arm and throw me onto the floor. Without the mat there this time the impact of the floor hurt-a lot. I groaned and before I could get up, Cassie kicked me onto my back and hit me across the face before I copied Randy and head butted her. She didn't have the same reaction as Ben did and simply slapped me across the face with an open hand. The slap echoed across the room and Cassie pinned me to the floor, punching me once more until I said I was done.

After my fight, I was wrecked. The left side of my face was bruised and red around my eye and cheek and my lip was split. My head ached and Four had me sit on the chairs off to the side for the rest of the morning fights. Nina won hers against Candice and Lori lost to Keegan. Both fights both people put up a strong fight, but Nina finished out strongly and Lori was sporting a black right eye after hers.

Since everyone was either too beaten or worn out, we had didn't have training after lunch and were told to ice our injuries and be ready again for tomorrow's introduction to guns. We were told we'd fight twice once or twice more, but it was time to focus on other areas that some of us would need a lot of work with.

I was still on the one chair holding an ice pack to the left side of my face as the others left for lunch. My head was spinning and I felt like if I stood up I would vomit up the banana nut muffin I had for breakfast. "You coming Ellie?" Nina asked. I shook my head. "I'm not hungry." I told her. "Go on without me, I'm gonna hang back."

"Alright, well find me later."

After that I was left in the training room icing my face. I felt like for my first fight I did alright, but I lost to Cassie. If I went up against Keegan or Randy in a fight, I had no chance. It was clear that I wasn't a great fighter and I was praying I'd be better with a gun and a knife. I had to be if I was going to have a decent ranking at the end of the first stage.

"Don't beat yourself up." A voice sounded. "Cassie did a good enough job with that."

Turning my body around I saw Eric walking over with a bloody towel in his hand. He must have just cleaned up the last of the blood on the mats. I scoffed at his comment and turned my body back around. "Thanks for reminding me." I muttered.

His footsteps got closer and he appeared in front of me, tossing the towel in his hands to the side. "It wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy." He said. "What were you expecting?"

"I learn to expect the worse so there aren't any surprises." I retorted.

"Well I am expecting you'll lose all of your fights if you don't work on your technique."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Eric." I said as I stood up and threw the ice pack at him. He caught it easily and tossed it onto another chair as I turned to walk away.

"Ellie," he said. I stopped and turned to look at him. For the first time, I took in his appearance. He was wearing your average Dauntless clothes, a tight black shirt and more loose fitting pants, but no jacket today so I could see his well-sculptured arms as he crossed them. There was nothing extraordinary about him, he seemed to keep his transformation basic and simple with his tattoos and eyebrow piercing. Some Dauntless got every square inch of their skin tattooed and had a face full of metal, but with Eric he had just enough.

"Your technique is too sloppy and you think in the moment instead of thinking out a strategic method like Cassie did. She knew every move you would try to make and acted first." He told me.

"I wanted her to go first. I wanted to see how she moved."

"Well it didn't seem to work out well did it? I thought for someone from Erudite you'd be smarter."

I scoffed again. "Well excuse me if I am not as good as you were through your initiation." I spit back.

"What I did to get through my initiation isn't what we're talking about."

"Then what? You just wanted to insult me?"

"I was going to offer to help you, but I guess I should just say never mind."

Eric stormed past me and left me in the training room alone. I was taken back for a moment at the mention of him wanting to help me. Why was he offering to help me? Plenty of other people lost their fights and walked away with bruises and bloodied features so I was no different. Maybe he was just trying to help me because I was Erudite, but there were other people from Erudite who lost today so I convinced myself he was just trying to help out an Initiate he was training.

Before he could get too far I rushed after him, my head spinning causing me to stumble a bit. I didn't want to end up losing his trail in the maze of hallways and caught up with him in about a minute. "Eric." I said as I reached out to touch his shoulder. I turned him around and was met by his intense grey eyes. "Look I'm sorry." I apologized. "How can you help me?"

"First you'd have to ask for my help." He responded.

"You offered it to me."

"That was before. Now I want you to ask me nicely."

I scowled at him in disbelief before finally letting out a breath. "Fine." I said. "Eric, will you please help me?"

"Gonna need more."

Was he serious? Yes he was. "Eric would you please, oh please, help me with my sorry excuse of a fighting technique." I said in a fake sad tone as I brought my hands together in front of me so they were between us. Eric put his hands on top of mine and lowered them back down. "I don't like the sarcasm, but yes I will help you. Ice your face tonight and we'll start earlier than usual tomorrow in the training room. Six o'clock sharp don't be late." After that he disappeared down the maze of hallways again.


	6. Curiosity Killed The Cat

When I woke up the next morning, it was so early. On a normal day the Initiates were up at seven and started training at eight. Today I had to be up an hour earlier to meet Eric in the training room. I kicked the blankets off of me and changed into a pair of loose black pants and a black muscle shirt that was loose as well. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and put on a pair of athletic sneakers that were so very comfortable. My face and head still hurt, but the bruising wasn't as bad since I iced it all of last night. It was still pretty bruised though and the left side of my face felt heavier than the right.

I did my best to make any noise as I left the dorm. It was a little hard though because it was dark and all the beds were close together. It was just a recipe for walking into them or tripping. Luckily I was able to make it to the stairs without falling onto my face and climbed quickly climbed the stairs to the main level. I swung by the cafeteria and grabbed an apple that I ate on the way to the training room where Eric was waiting for me. He was on the mat that was in the center of the room and his back was to me. He was in a tight black t-shirt and pants with boots on his feet. His arms were crossed and you could make out the muscles on his back through his shirt. I don't know how the fabric doesn't rip into two.

Walking over I held my head high to show that I wasn't broken about losing my fight to Cassie yesterday. I was still an Initiate and there was still room for improvement. Improvement which apparently Eric was going to help me with. The question that still hung in the air though was why.

Eric must have heard my footsteps because he turned around to look at me. "Good to see you can be on time." He said as he uncrossed his arms. I rolled my eyes and stopped a few feet in front of him. "Good morning to you, too." I replied dryly.

"It isn't my job to be pleasant. It's my job to make sure you score well in the first stage and pass initiation."

"Why are you even helping me?"

"Because so far you are the least skilled fighter from what I saw yesterday and you don't want to start off low in the second stage."

"Because we have to face our worst fears, right?"

"How did you know that?"

"My mom helps make the serums in Erudite and we know everything."

Eric looked at me for a moment before shaking his head. "Look let's just get started. Get to the center of the mat." I did as he told me and he circled me for a minute, looking at me up and down. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but I chose to just shut up and look up at the high ceiling.

"Alright bend your knees a little." He told me as he walked around in front of me. I bent my knees. "Now raise your fists to be level with your cheeks." I raised my fists. "Make sure you keep your face covered. Taking a blow to the stomach is better than the face, but what's best is to not get hit at all." Eric took hold of my elbows and tucked them near my sides. "This will help you avoid body shots from the other person." He told me. "Now one advantage you do have is that you're quick. Dodging punches is always a good choice, too and that's something your good at…well if you aren't on the floor."

Eric stepped back and looked at my stance. "Alright." He said. "Hit me." I looked at him in surprise. "What?" I questioned.

"Hit me." he repeated. "If you think you're going to actually land a punch on me than you're mistaken anyway."

I stepped closer to him as I brought my fist around to hit him in the face, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward as he stepped out of the way, causing me to fall on the floor. I turned onto my back and let out a huff. "Try again." he said as he held a hand out to me. I took his hand, mine sliding into his perfectly, but I pulled him towards me which made him lose his balance and fall to the ground next to me. I went to get up, but he kicked my feet out from under me and I ended up tripping back to the floor. I stood up immediately and turned to face him as he stood up. "Let's try to find a way to keep you off the floor." He said. "Because once you're down, it's hard to get back up."

Eric and I both took a stance in front of each other and he told me to block or dodge every punch he threw. I nodded in reply and he threw the first punch from the right and I easily ducked out of the way. I turned and then faced him again as he threw another punch. I blocked it with my right arm and pushed his away.

The two of us danced around the mat with one another for about an hour and a half. He never hit me, not because I blocked every punch, but because he didn't want to _actually_ hit me. Instead he slowed down the impact and just put his fist where he would have hit me. He told me everything I was doing wrong as well as everything I was doing right before telling me that we'd do the same thing tomorrow. Up at six and train until seven thirty since that's when he let me go to eat breakfast with the others.

"You're a quick learner, Ellie." Eric said as I turned to leave. "You don't repeat the same mistake twice, but you always make a different one somehow. Just remember what I told you: Knees bent and fists high."

"Thank you." Was all I said before walking out.

The cafeteria was buzzing with people when I got there and it was hard to locate my friends in the sea of people all wearing the same color. But I was able to spot Nina with her new hair across the room. I walked through the aisles that were formed from the rows of tables and sat down next to Nina who was with Lori, Candice, Ben, and Max. "Where did you go this morning?" Nina asked. "You were gone when we woke up."

I didn't want to tell her he truth because for one it would look like Eric was favoriting me and two it would look like I was trying to move up faster than the others. But truthfully Eric was helping me catch up to them. He was right about me being a weak fighter compared the others and I did need the help.

"I was in the training room." I said. "Wanted to try to work out a little bit."

"We work out every day." Ben pointed out.

"Well after my losing yesterday I wanted to get some extra practice on the punching bags."

It wasn't completely a lie. I was just leaving out the part about Eric. I saw Nina look me over for a second before nodding. She believed me. She was looking for any sign that I was lying. Damn Candor…

**OOOOO**

That morning when all the Initiates were in the training room, we were taken up to the roof of the compound to shoot targets that were set up there. The sky was clear and blue with no clouds in it and there was a light breeze, too. The roof was huge and the ground was just stones, but there were targets a few yards away from where we were told to stand. Eric and Four handed out the guns and it fit in my hand like a glove would fit a baseball player. It was a handgun so it was easier to handle it and a little voice in my head couldn't wait until we started firing the larger guns. It felt like it _belonged_ in my hand. The metal was cool and when I gripped in the right way, I smirked a little bit. It felt so right.

Eric and Four showed us how to use the guns before we actually started firing practice. They showed us the proper way to hold it, how to turn the safety on and off, how to reload and clear the chamber, and how to take it apart and put it back together. It took about an hour for them to show us everything before we started to shoot. I stood next to Ben and aimed the gun down rage. I closed my left eye and squeezed the trigger, but not hard enough to fire the gun. I exhaled and then pulled the trigger all the way. I heard the twang of metal and saw I hit the very edge of the target. It was almost off, but I still hit the target. I repeated my set up until my clip was empty. I popped it out and walked over to the table that was set to get a new clip. I loaded the clip and then slid it back into the gun as I walked back to where I was. Then I started shooting again.

We were up on the roof until lunch time shooting and by the end of it my ears were ringing from all the gunshots and my hands were cramped from holding the gun for so long. I clenched and unclenched my fingers as I walked with Nina and the others in an attempt to loosen them up. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable.

There were had burgers for lunch, a Dauntless specialty, and then were back shooting the guns. By the end of the day I was hitting the target close to the center, but I still needed practice. I proved to be a good shot, but not good enough by Dauntless standards. A few more days of practice and I knew I'd be a perfect shot.

When the day ended, I decided to make a sorry excuse attempt to familiarize myself with the compound. I wandered through the halls and I mentally told myself to bring a sweatshirt because it was cold in the tunnels. Since all the walls were made of stone and you were underground, the air was enough to make you shiver. I crossed my arms and tried my best to memorize each turn and hallway, but they all seemed to just run together. After about twenty minutes of wandering I came to the conclusion that I was lost. I tried going back the way I came, but that proved to be a useless tactic. There weren't a lot of people around since it the end of the work day and most people were retiring to their living quarters for the night or getting dinner.

Another ten minutes passed when I turned a corner and ran into a hard chest. Two large hands reached out to steady me and I instinctively went to steady them by placing my hands on their sides. When I looked up I was met my Eric's grey eyes. "Sorry." I said. He dropped his arms and looked down at me. "It's okay." he said. "What are you doing back here?"

"I got a little lost."

"You got lost?"

"Don't you tell me that when you first came here you memorized these hallways and tunnels in one week."

Eric chuckled and turned around, motioning for me to follow him. "Come on I'll take you back to the dorms." He said. I smiled and followed after him.

We walked side by side, our arms lightly brushing each other's as we made our way back towards the dorms. I looked at him at the corner of my eye and the one question I wanted to ask him is why he wanted to transfer. I knew that he didn't like Erudite, but was it for the same reasons as me? My Erudite curiosity was screaming for me to ask because I wanted to know, but he may not want me to.

"I can hear your thoughts, Ellie." He said as he looked at me. "What's on your mind?"

"Why did you transfer?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He looked at me in surprise. "Why did you?" he retorted.

"I didn't like how Erudite worked. And I didn't like how the other factions worked either." I told him. "The way I see it being brave is something only some people can be and I wanted to be that kind of person."

"What do you mean you didn't like how the other factions worked?"

"You know the whole intelligence, selflessness, honest, and kindness. You can't be them all the time. You can't tell the truth or be kind all the time, it's okay to be a little selfish time, and there's more to life than book smarts."

Eric fell silent for a few moments before replying. "I didn't fit in at Erudite." He said. "I wasn't cut out for it. I didn't like reading or learning the kinds of things they taught there. 

"It wasn't who you were." I pointed out.

He nodded. "Exactly. But I thought I remembered you when I pulled you off that net. You're the daughter of one of the leaders."

I nodded. "Yeah…my parents were really thinking I was going to stay."

We finally reached the dorms and I turned to face him. "Thanks for helping me find my way back." I said. "I appreciate it."

"No problem."

I turned to go inside, but his voice stopped me. "Ellie," He said. I turned back around. "I know your name wasn't Ellie in Erudite. What was it?"

The question took me by surprise, but I made sure I didn't show any signs of it on my face. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Just curious."

"You didn't know me in Erudite, but you're getting to know me in Dauntless. And here I'm Ellie. Who I was before doesn't matter anymore."

After saying that I disappeared back into the dorms, leaving Eric with his old Erudite curiosity eating at him. You never truly forget who you and where you come from. Even though he may never have considered himself Erudite, that's where he came from. And the thing about Erudite curiosity is that it rooted its way inside of you and stayed there. Erudite always want to know the answers and you couldn't shake it. Eric would always have it and so would I.


	7. Muffins and Paintball

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Divergent books. I only own my OCs and original plot ideas  
**

Another week passed by that was spent practicing with Eric in the morning which actually turned out to be a little fun. The more we practiced the better fighter I became and he wasn't so tense and strict when it was just him and me. After our third practice he started to loosen up and act a little more comfortable with me. And once I saw that, I started to relax too.

There was another fight day and I won, but it was against Candace. We both put up a good fight, but I came out on top with only a bruised cheek and nail marks on my right. Candace on the other hand I ended up giving a bloody and bruised nose. I even ended up popping a blood vessel in her eye so it was all red now. I felt really guilty about it because we were friends and I apologized to her afterwards, but she said not to worry about it. "I'll just kick your ass next time." Was what she said. After that we laughed and enjoyed a slice of Dauntless chocolate cake together. (Which by the way is absolutely amazing. The rumors were true)

It was morning and I was at breakfast with my friends after my training session with Eric. I was starving and scarfed down a pistachio muffin and some toast to fill me up. Dauntless had some pretty great muffins on top of the cake and burgers. The cafeteria had over twenty different types and my goal was to try a different one every day. Before my favorite was the banana nut kind that had walnuts, but the pistachio one was the new winner. It was green and just melted in your mouth when you bit into it. i could probably eat a dozen of them with zero regrets.

After breakfast all the transfers started to head to the training room. "So Ellie," a voice said. Turning my head in the direction of the voice I saw it was Keegan. "Where is it exactly that you keep running off to every morning before we all wake up?"

"I go to the training room for extra practice." I told him.

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"So you aren't running off to meet up with someone?"

Where was all this coming from? Did he know something? He couldn't have. Eric and I were cautious of making sure no one found out. We kept the training room doors locked until breakfast started so no one walked in and I was always made sure no one followed me. "Why don't you mind your own business Keegan and worry about yourself." I spit.

"All defensive now, are we?" Randy interjected.

"You know why don't you take your accusations and shove them up your-"

"Alright calm down El." Ben said as he put an arm around my shoulders. "Just ignore them."

We walked into the training room and by instinct my eyes looked up at the high ceiling before seeing the tables with throwing knives on them. "New skill today, Initiates." Four announced. "Pick up a knife and let's see what you got."

All the transfers walked over to the table and picked up a few knives each, tucking them into the waist of their pants and holding one at a time in their hand. The knives were slim and sleek, made of a shiny metal and the blade was sharp. Once Four and Eric showed us how to hold and throw the knife, they let us go on our own as they walked around and watched us. Four was amazing and hit the target dead center every time and Eric was just as good. The two of them set up targets that were a few meters away and they were in the shape of a human with a target in the center of its chest. I spun the knife around in my hand and tried to get the feel of it, but it seemed small to me. Then again these were throwing knives.

After about two minutes everyone else was beginning to throw knives at the targets and I was still playing with mine. I figured I would throw it and see if it stuck or not. I held the knife the way Four and Eric showed us and brought my arm back slowly, looking at where I wanted the knife to go. Once I was ready I let out a breath and threw the knife down range. It hit the target, but it didn't stick. I pulled another knife from my waist and lined it up properly before throwing it, this time with more power. It stuck, but only for about three seconds before falling off. I tried a few more times and only two stuck, but they weren't near the center where I wanted them to be.

"Guess you are more of a firearm kind of person." Eric's voice said from behind me.

"Guess so." I replied as I pulled out another knife.

Eric told me to stop and then I felt his hands on my hips and sides. He had a firm grip as he turned me and I felt my heart flutter a little bit at the contact. Even after he removed his hands I could still feel the ghost of them on my skin as if they were still there. He made me face a little straighter and then told me to bring my arm farther back. I did what he told me to and then he said to throw the knife as hard as I could. Once I lined it up I threw the knife and it whizzed through the air before sticking to the target closer to the center. "There you go." He said. "Now keep practicing." Eric walked away after that to help a few other Initiates who were having difficulty and I was left with my blades. After he corrected my stance, none of my knives hit the floor.

**OOOOO**

We spent the whole morning throwing knives and then the afternoon firing guns again before dinner. My hands were in serious pain after a day of gripping throwing knives and firing a gun, so I ended up putting them in hot water for a while after dinner. Candice, Lori, and Nina decided to go shopping in the pit for clothes and Ben went for a walk, leaving me and Max in the dorms. We were sitting on my twin sized bed in our sleeping clothes talking. He was reclined up by my pillow and I was at the foot of the bed with my legs in his lap.

"How do you think you'll do in terms of rankings?" he asked me.

"Definitely not first, but not last." I told him.

"Same."

Max moved his arm onto the pillow and then looked at it. He picked it up and it revealed my glasses I saved from the first day we came here. He picked them up and looked at me. "You kept these?" he questioned.

"They said out clothes." I pointed out as I took them from him. "These aren't clothes."

"I get it. I kept my watch that my brother gave me for my birthday one year."

"I just don't wanna forget who I was, you know?"

"You mean being Erudite?"

"Yeah. It's who I was for sixteen years and a part of me will always be Erudite, but I'm just replacing my blue with black and a book for a gun."

"Is Dauntless what you got on your aptitude test?"

My aptitude test. My results were Dauntless _and_ Erudite, but my test administer, Logan, said I wasn't Divergent. Cutting it close maybe, but border line there. I haven't even really thought about it since the day of my test. I didn't want to scare myself over something I may not have to fear.

"Yes." I answered Max. "But I wanted to be Dauntless for a long time."

"Same."

I let out a yawn and looked at Max. "Well I am gonna hit the hay." I told him. "Another long day tomorrow."

He got off my bed and flopped onto his. "Think I'll do the same thing. Night Ellie." He said as he closed his eyes. I put my glasses back under my pillow and pulled my blanket over me. "Night Max." I replied. I was out like a light, but was awoken around midnight by Eric and Four banging on the metal beam on the stairs loudly. "Get up!" Eric's voice boomed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes as the other Initiates began to wake up. "Time to play a game."

About thirty minutes later all the Initiates, transfers and Dauntless born, were on a train heading towards the pier to play a game of capture the flag…with paintball. Yes paintball…at one in the morning. "Four and I are captains." Eric told us. "Four you pick first."

"Max." Four said.

"Ellie."

Me? Eric picked me? And he picked me first? That was actually kind of surprising.

"Nina."

"Randy."

"Ben."

"Keegan."

Great. My friends are on the opposite team and I have to deal with Randy and Keegan as my team mates. This night gets better and better.

Once the teams were picked, Eric and Four handed out paintball guns and then we were at the pier. Eric led me and the others the opposite direction of where Four was taking his team. I followed closely behind him clutching my gun close to my chest and pulling my jacket tighter around me. The night was cool with a cold breeze blowing and the sky was pitch black, but the bright stars served as a perfect contrast in it. Looking behind me at the pier I could make out a large Ferris Wheel and I smiled at the sight of it. What I would give to ride that.

The smell of salt water filled my nose and I couldn't help but wonder what the pier was like before. What it was like to see all the lights on and the rides carrying people as they screamed and smiled. I remember reading about life before the war and apparently people came to this pier on vacation for "family fun". Wonder what that meant.

Eric led us to a building that looked to be the old main entrance where people paid to get in or to buy tickets. It was had a bunch of stores and little restaurants in it so it is safe to assume it was also a shopping center at one point, too. Eric had Randy take the flag to the one store with a sign reading _Souvenirs_ above it to hide it there. "You should have hid it at the park." I told Eric as we walked back to the front of the building. We were playing offense with two other Initiates while the others played defense. "And why would that be?" Eric questioned as we strolled past the building and shops.

"More space, easier to play offense to give defense a better chance."

"I'll hide it there next year then."

"Will you really?"

"Cross my heart."

I smiled and a silence fell between us again as we walked and surveyed the area. I took the time to think about my parents. I missed them. A lot. Visiting day was coming up and I'm not sure I will be seeing them again. My dad might come from what I saw of him when I was leaving the Choosing Ceremony, but there was always the chance he and my mom decided to just disown any memory of me. I didn't want to hurt them by leaving, but it is my life and I shouldn't feel pressured to make decisions that will benefit other people rather than me when it is my life. I guess I will just see when the day comes.

The sound of a scream caught both me and Eric's attention. I raised my gun in the direction of the scream and the sound of running footsteps echoed across the area. Both Eric and I rushed towards the shopping center entrance and saw a few members of Four's team approaching. The scream we heard must have been the other Initiate who was playing offense. I aimed my paintball gun and fired it at the other team, the vibrant colors visible even in the darkness on the black clothes. Eric joined in on my route of action and the other team saw us from where they were. The began firing at us and Eric grabbed hold of my arm, pulling me out of the paintball's path. I felt a smile curling at my lips. This was actually kind of fun.

Eric and I took cover behind a wall and fired at the other team as paint hit the wall. I ran across the sidewalk to get a better angle, but was hit by a red paintball and then a blue. I got myself to the other side and realized Eric and I were up against five. I kept firing my gun until I was out of paintballs. I reached into my pocket to pull out the extras we were given on the train and began loading them in. The opposing team saw this as an opportunity and approached me as I reloaded. When they were getting closer, I saw Eric unload on them from behind. Before any of us could go any farther, the sound of cheering caught our attention. Then I saw the rest of Four's team run out with our flag and our defense covered in paint come out right behind them.

"Told you." I said to Eric. "The park would have been better." He shot me with a purple paintball in the leg.

**Please Review!**


	8. Friend Against Friend

**Hey guys! I just wanted to ask what Ellie and the others' fear fears should be in their fear landscapes. I don't want to use any fears they've already used so I thought you guys could give me some ideas. I have a few in mind, but I wanna know what you want to see! Leave your suggestions in the reviews and I'll make sure to acknowledge you on here! Thank You!**

**Disclaimer: I do now own anything from Divergent. Just my OCs and original plot ideas**

**OOOOO**

After paintball another two days passed before the final rankings for stage one were posted and visiting day rolled around. The day the final rankings were posted was also the last day for fights for initiates to have one last chance to help their ranking. I woke up earlier than everyone else as usual and changed into a pair of black shorts and a black long sleeved shirt. I left my hair down and it was a little wavy so it hung around my shoulders. I carried my shoes in my hands so my footsteps didn't make too much noise as I walked. The room was still dark and I ended up stubbing my toe on the leg of a bed. "Son of a-" I said in a loud whisper. I quickly made my way out of the dorm and up the stairs to the first floor.

I walked through the cafeteria which wasn't busy at all and grabbed myself a muffin. Today I would be trying the red velvet. I took a bite into it as I walked towards the training room and wow it was good. It tasted like chocolate, but smoother and richer. But pistachio was still number one. While I walked down the hall, I realized that it would be my last morning training with Eric. For the past couple of weeks we've gotten together every morning and if not for him I would most likely be at the bottom of the rankings. Even though I was good with a gun and capable with a knife, the hand to hand combat had a large influence on the rankings.

In the training room, Eric was standing at our normal mat in the center of the room. I gazed up at the high ceiling and then around at the punching bags and pull up bars. The Dauntless compound was so different from Erudite. Erudite was like a "college campus" which existed before the war. College was a place after you went to "high school" where you would take classes and courses to get a career. I haven't even thought about what I would want to do after I finish initiation. If I was able to I wouldn't mind training initiates or working on the computers like Four does. Then again it all depends on my final rank.

"Morning." I greeted as I finished my muffin.

Eric turned around and uncrossed his arms at the sight of me. "What is it with you and the muffins her?" he questioned. I smiled. "Have you not tasted them? They're amazing."

"So is the cake."

"I've noticed. It's better than the white cake at Erudite."

Eric chuckled. "That wasn't half bad cake, though."

"Very true."

Eric was wearing his normal attire: black pants and shirt and boots. He kept it simple. I noticed that he had a second ring in his eyebrow, though. I still couldn't help but focus a longer glance on his well sculptured torso. He was attractive no doubt. His body was incredible and he his face was just as admirable. His grey eyes, strong jaw…woah, woah, woah. What am I saying? Damn hormones…

"What are we doing today?" I asked, trying to shake my appreciative thoughts on his appearance.

"Your last fight is today so we'll touch on everything we've gone over. Then after today you won't have to be up at six in the morning and interrogated by your friends."

I laughed. "Well that's upsetting. This has actually kind of been a little fun."

Eric gave me a smile. And it was a _warm_ smile. "Let's get to it."

We started off with throwing and blocking punches. I easily blocked his punches and caught his arm before he could get too close to me. We danced around the mat in perfect coordination and I moved without trouble. The extra practice was really showing.

About fifteen minutes before I left for breakfast, both of us started to kind of goof off. Our stances and punches were getting sloppier and we weren't as focused as we were in the beginning. The one time I managed to slip behind him when dodging the path of his fist I jumped on his back. I slid my hands around his neck and Mm hair fell in front of my face when I realized I had just jumped onto my instructor's back. Shit. This was a bad idea…like a really bad idea. I was acting like a kid! But before I could mentally hit myself over my decision, I heard Eric laugh. I let out a breath of relief and felt his hands slip under my knees to hold me in place.

"You're lighter than you look." He said as he turned his head to see me better.

I stretched my neck out a little so he could see me. "Well I will take that as a compliment."

Rolling his eyes Eric let me go and I hopped off of him. He turned around to look at me and I knew my face was probably beet red. We got back into our stance and I went to throw a punch at him which he easily blocked. He kept hold of my wrist and eyes me carefully. I went to kick him in the side, but he caught my leg and held onto it. Now I was balancing on one leg with one arm and leg in his tight, unbreakable grip. Knowing I wouldn't be able to get out of this without giving up, (which I knew he wouldn't let me do) I did the first thing that came to mind. I _jumped_ on him. I gathered up enough force to knock him back onto the mat and we both landed with an _oomf_. I got up and brushed myself off before offering my hand to him. He took it and stood up, but he didn't let go of my hand. Instead he bent at his knees so he could pull me over his shoulder and stand up with me hanging over his shoulder. I laughed and heard Eric laugh, too. "Put me down." I laughed, a smile plastered across my face.

He walked to the other side of the mat and put me on my feet. "I think you'll be alright today." He told me, looking me straight in the eye. "Just remember everything we went over."

"I can't thank you enough for this Eric." I told him. "I'd probably be at the bottom of the rankings if you hadn't have helped me."

"You don't have to thank me. Just kick someone's ass today."

I laughed. "I'm going to get breakfast. I'll see you later."

I left the training room and headed to the cafeteria where my friends were just getting their breakfast. We talked about the fights and the final rankings as well as the second stage. "Why do we have to face our fears?" Max asked our group of six. "What will it prove anyway?"

"If we can face what we fear the most, it proves that we're brave." Candace answered as she glanced at Ben and Max. I am ninety nine percent sure she has a thing for Ben.

"So we have to be fearless?" Lori interjected as she took a bite of her muffin (It was raisin. Not one I preferred).

"No such thing." I said as I munched on my toast. "We just have to be able to suppress the fear and face it head on."

"What are you guys afraid of?" Nina asked as she looked at all of us. "I mean they put you in a sim to do it."

"Never tell anyone your fears. They can use them against you." Ben said as he looked over at Candace. I am also ninety nine percent sure he has a thing for her, too. Then again what do I know, I only came from Erudite.

"I don't know what to expect when we go into the simulations." Max said as he took a drink of water.

"I always expect the worst so there aren't any surprises." I told him as I took the final bite of my toast.

After breakfast we had our final fights and I saw Eric and Four standing at the board, Eric with a worried expression on his face. Searching for my name on the board, I couldn't believe who I was fighting. I was fighting with _Nina_. The first friend I made here. Actually we met on the train ride to the compound after the choosing ceremony. The first friend I made here I would either have to lose against to make sure she doesn't get her rank hurt or win to secure mine. But that mean hurting hers. Great. But then I noticed that it was the case for everyone. Ben was against Lori, Max against Candace, and Randy against Keegan. They were having us fight our _friends_. Had it just been one or two pairs that would be one thing, but everyone was pitted against a friend they've made since they got to Dauntless. It was _intentionally_ set up like this for a reason.

"First up is Nina and Ellie." Eric announced as he refused to make eye contact with me.

I looked at Nina and she looked at me in worry as we took the mat. "Winner gets the points." Four reminded us. "These points will make or break your final ranking so do whatever you can to win."

Nina and I looked at each other and stood there motionlessly. There was no way I could do this. Popping a blood vessel in Candace's eye was enough to make me feel guilty about winning and if I beat Nina, her rank would be lower than before and vice versa for me. Either way we were screwed.

"Sometime today." Eric's voice sounded.

I wanted to shoot him a glare, but my eyes stayed glued to Nina who just nodded at me and raised her fists as she took her stance. I did the same and we circled each other for a moment before I silently told her to take the first hit. She threw a punch at me towards my face and I caught her wrist easily. I twisted her arm and pushed her away. I could feel every initiate's eyes on us knowing that they'd have to do this themselves. Nina straightened herself out and turned towards me again. She launched at me and tackled me to the ground. She was on top of me and I brought my knee up in a fast fluid motion twice her on her so I hit her lower back. Then I threw her off of me and stood up. She got to her feet as well and we both retook our stances. Now it was her turn to hurt me. I allowed her to punch me across the face and it hurt like a bitch, but it was only fair. "Stop playing around or you'll both get your rankings hurt." Eric's voice sounded. Nina and I looked at each other again. I'd have to kick as in the second stage. I gave Nina a nod and she looked at me in surprise. Knowing we didn't have a lot of time she lunged at me and I gave up a weak fight so I wasn't completely throwing the fight. Once she had me down Nina sent two punches across my face before the blood started running down my face from my nose. She instantly stopped and got off of me. I raised a hand to my nose as she helped me sit up. Both of us looked over Four and Eric who had unreadable expressions on their face. There were so many emotions playing across their face at once. Guilt, disappointment, pity…but not directed at us. Then I realized that this wasn't their idea. Pitting friends against friends wasn't up to them.

"If her ranking is hurt then so is mine." Nina declared. "I'm not doing this to my best friend."

Eric looked at me like I was broken and it hurt. Then he turned around and crossed both me and Nina's names off the board. Nina just threw her ranking for me. Now both of our rankings were now hurt and now both of us needed to kick ass in the second stage.


	9. Bravery By Definition

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, I had finals for school the past week or so and tomorrow is my last day of school! Finally! And unfortunately since I am in two advanced classes I have a bunch of summer work I have to do, so I won't be updating as frequently as I would have liked to. Anyway, I give you the next chapter. I wanted to try to do some Eric POV so tell me what you think! Also I need a few more fears for Ellie so any help will be appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Divergent…just my original plot ideas and characters. **

**OOOOO**

_Eric_

After Nina and Ellie's fight, Four nursed Ellie's bruised and bloody nose as I observed the other fights. The difference between Four and I is that I can wear an emotionless expression and easily act like I don't care. He can to at times, but it is always clear that he has some sort of care. He's been like that since initiation from my memory. He may not show it like other people do, but it's clear as day that he cares about what happens to the initiates. He doesn't want them to end up in a labor job at the end, but the truth is some of them will. Someone is always better at something than someone else.

Both Ben and Max threw their fights so Lori and Candace's rankings were secure and the two of them weren't injured. Keegan and Randy beat each other to a pulp, but Keegan ended up walking away victorious. He left the mat with a black eye, swollen lip, and a few cuts on his face while Randy walked off with the left side of his face bruised and cut up and a bloody lip.

Before the fight the one leader, Max, called Four and I in for a meeting. It was his idea for the friend against friend fights. According to him it was a test to see if the initiates could push emotion out of the equation and do what needed to be done. It wasn't a test of bravery, but more dedication and loyalty. I could see what he was going for, and I would never say it out loud, but it was an unneeded exercise. Most of the initiates, including Ellie, proved their dedication to Dauntless these past couple of weeks. Apparently the Dauntless initiation got harder every year from what I've heard from other members.

After the fights, I watched as Ellie and Nina walked out of the training room together. I watched her until she was out of sight before turning my attention to the rankings board. Originally, Ellie and Nina were doing well with their rankings. They were at third and fourth in the transfers and fifth and sixth overall when you counted the Dauntless-born rankings. Now with them throwing the fight they were at fifth and sixth in the transfer rankings and eighth and ninth overall. For a group of twenty-five total initiates it was still a decent ranking, but rankings always dipped in the second stage. It was a given. No one could handle facing their worst fears in a simulation.

"How bad are the rankings are now?" I heard Four's voice ask.

"Ben, Max, Nina, Ellie, Randy, and a few others' rankings dropped." I answered. "Since Ben and Max threw their fights, Lori and Candace are safe for now."

"Well tomorrow are final rankings and visiting day. We'll see how it goes."

I kept looking at the board and heard Four leave the room. I hung back for a bit to clean up before heading to dinner. My mind wandered to Ellie and her bruised face. She looked my way before and after her fight and it was difficult not to show her I cared that she was getting beat. The truth is that that girl managed to work through my cold and rough exterior. How is the question I don't know the answer to. The only time we've spent together were the mornings I was giving her extra training. She caught on quick and she was dedicated in every definition of the word. The last few days we were together in the mornings I got more relaxed around her and her around me. It was actually a little fun which is another thing I'd never say out loud. I was supposed to be the tough, cold trainer.

Walking into the cafeteria, my eyes immediately landed on Ellie. She sat at her usual table with her friends and I could tell the conversation was limited. After the day they just had I understood why. The fights were brutal and most of the rankings dropped significantly. Ellie saw me walk in and looked at me for a moment before her eyes turned cold and she went back to eating her food. I brushed it off and got my food before sitting down with Four, Lauren, and a few other Dauntless members. The cafeteria was always loud with people and talking. It was like the pit only there weren't any fights happening and there was food. Speaking of food, they were serving barbeque chicken for dinner. I didn't have much of an appetite so I just picked at my food and listened to the conversation between Four and Lauren. I was ninety percent sure she had a thing for him.

"The Dauntless born are doing pretty damn good this year." She commented. "How are your transfers.

"Four of them threw their fight today because of Max's little "change up"." Four answered.

"Were the rankings hurt?"

"Yeah."

My eyes wandered over to Ellie's table and I saw Max put an arm around Candace as he talked. Ellie stood up from the table and said something to them before leaving the cafeteria. Without thinking about it I pushed my tray away and stood up to follow her. I just wanted to ask her if she was alright.

"Eric where are you going?" I heard Lauren ask, but I ignored her as I walked after Ellie. There were a bunch of people crowding around and I had to push to get through them. Knowing Ellie she'd manage to slip away from discovery in a few seconds and I didn't want to wait to talk to her.

When I got outside the cafeteria, I saw Ellie walking down the hall towards the dorms. "Ellie!" I said loud enough for her to hear me. She kept walking, so I sped up a little. "Ellie!" Once I was close enough I reached out to grab her wrist to stop her, but the second my hand touched her she turned around and slapped me across the face. I stopped and my head went with the slap which hurt…like a bitch. My cheek stung like someone was pricking at it with a needle and I knew it would leave a mark. I looked at her in surprise. She wore and angry expression on her face and up close, I could see that the bruise she got from her fight was covered her nose and right cheekbone. Before I could get a syllable out, she spoke. "What the hell was that today?" she demanded, her tone angry.

I looked at her with hard eyes. "You think that was my idea?" I snapped.

"Well you seemed to have no problems carrying it out! Thanks to that both me and Nina's rankings dropped."

"You could have done what you were supposed to and try to win."

"Which meant I'd hurt Nina physically and in the rankings. That isn't winning even if I came out on top."

I took a step closer to her and I could tell she was starting to feel intimidated, but tried to hold her ground. "That was meant to teach you to keep emotion out of your fighting. You were supposed to do what had to be done." I told her, my voice deep.

"Well you know what, Eric. I'd rather get dead last then hurt my best friend like that." She replied, trying to match my tone.

"For someone who was Erudite you aren't very smart."

I could tell I hit a nerve by saying that and watched as her face grew even angrier if that was possible. "This _isn't_ Erudite. I'm _not_ Erudite anymore. This is Dauntless so let's get that straight _right now_." She growled.

"Then start acting it."

"Bravery is defined as courageous bravery or character. Being brave has nothing to do with pushing emotion aside and beating your friend in a fight because you were told to. It took more bravery for Nina and I to go against what we were told because what we thought was right wasn't what you thought."

I stepped back from Ellie and met her blue eyes with mine. I processed what she had just said and I believed every word she said. She was right about it. What max had them do was wrong and it was brave for them to go against it, but that wasn't what the leaders were looking for. "Ice your face." was all I said to her before walking away.

**OOOOO**

The next morning I stopped at the cafeteria before going to the training room to pick up a pistachio muffin. It was my method for apologizing to Ellie. Why I felt the need to apologize was another question I didn't know the answer to, but I felt like I had to after yesterday. She had a thing for the muffins here so it seemed appropriate.

Four and I put the final rankings up and the Dauntless born came herding in to see their ranks. Most of them seemed pleased with them and left the room hollering and carrying on. The transfers walked in as they rushed out and the transfers looked nervous. I saw Ellie took my advice on icing her face because the bruising didn't look as bad. That or she put make-up over it. Either way worked I guess.

Keegan and Randy were pleased with their rankings in third and fourth and I saw Nina's face fall at her ninth place rank. Ellie put an arm around her and said something to her that caused the Candor to chuckle. It was Visiting Day and the parents would be here a little before dinner, so the initiates had the day off. Tomorrow we were going to Amity to help the tree huggers harvest the spring crops. Every year Dauntless went to a different faction to provide an act of community service. Guess what faction came up with that. (Hint: They run the government.) Every year was a different faction and this year we were going to Amity. Great…

"As you know, today is Visiting Day." Four announced. "Some of your parents may come and others may not. My advice is not to get your hopes."

"Most parents of transfers are a no show so I would just expect them not to show up." I added.

I could feel Four's stare in the side of my face, but I ignored it. "You're dismissed." Four told them. The transfers filed out, but I stopped Ellie. She crossed her arms as she walked over to me and Four abandoned the scene. I walked over to where I laid my jacket down and picked it up along with the small bag containing the muffin. I held it out to her. "Sorry about yesterday." I said. She looked at me and then at the bag. "What is it?" she questioned.

"Pistachio muffin. You're favorite."

"How do you know it's my favorite?"

"It's the only one I've seen you eat twice."

Ellie snatched the bag from my hand and peered inside of it before looking back at me. "You think a muffin will make me forgive you?" she questioned.

"I gave you a free pass on slapping me." I reminded her. "The muffin is just insurance."

Ellie couldn't fight off the smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth. "Thank you." She said. I gave her a small smile and I noticed a blush creeping at her cheeks. "I have to go…there's always the slim chance one of my parents shows up." she said. "And a slim chance is still a chance."

I watched as Ellie left the room and I realized I was still smiling. What was this girl doing to me?


	10. Hurt

_Ellie_

As I walked down the hall to meet up with Nina, I looked at the bag that held the muffin Eric gave me. I smiled to myself. Eric, the cold and harsh instructor, apologized to me. An initiate. He also didn't punish me for slapping him; another thing I couldn't believe. And to top it all off he gave me a muffin. I couldn't help but wonder why he was being so nice to me, though. Even though when it was just us, I was sure he didn't treat any of the other initiates the way he treated me. We were both Erudite, but then again so were Lori and Candace so it wasn't the fact that we were connected to the same faction before transferring. Maybe he was nice to me because I had a streak of rebellion in me and respected me and my decisions. Part of me wanted to ask him, but then again maybe I was looking a t the situation completely wrong then how he saw it.

I didn't want to dwell on Eric at the moment because it was Visiting Day and even though I didn't want to get my hopes up, I had a feeling my dad may come. At the ceremony he didn't look at me with a cold stare or seem angry at me for my decision. In fact when I hesitated to leave he told me to go. I knew he would look at me differently for the rest of my life after defecting from Erudite, but one trait my dad had that I always loved was that he was understanding. He was also the kind of person who over analyzed things so he already knew I didn't defect for the hell of it or to leave him and my mother. He knew that I had a good enough reason for myself to make the decision.

Since the first stage of initiation was over, Nina and I planned to get our tattoos done before the parents arrived. Both of us sketched our design ideas on paper and had them tucked away in our pockets. Since she was from Candor, she was going to get shards of glass wrapping around her side that transformed into flames to represent both her old and new faction. I decided to do a similar thing and have water droppings start at my neck and go down my back, but turn into small flames halfway down. The design looked nice on paper and I prayed it would look good on my skin.

"Ready?" Nina asked me. Her and I went by ourselves while the others went back to the dorms for a bit.

"Yeah." I said with a smile and nod.

The tattoo parlor was buzzing with people who wanted new tattoos even though most of their skin was already covered in ink. On the wall there were posters and papers on the wall with designs and photos of tattoo designs. Some of them looked very simple whereas others looked like they'd take hours to finish. Chairs lined up at the sides of the room where people sat as they had the tattoo artists add more permanent ink to their skin. The room was dimly lit and had an orange glow to it as music played quietly. The sounds of the instruments seemed to bounce off of the walls almost. The place was absolutely amazing.

A man who looked to be in his thirties and had midnight black hair approached me and Nina. He had design of lines going up the side of his neck and three piercings in his eyebrow and another two in his lip. "You two lovelies must be initiates." He commented as he circled us. "You don't have a piece of ink on you."

"That's what we're here for." Nina told him.

"Well let's get you lovely ladies an artist. Hey Logan!"

The man turned away and I looked in the direction he was looking. My eyes landed on a familiar face, but I couldn't place him for a second. Then I saw the tattoo of the tree on his inner right forearm with the roots expanding into his hand and it hit me. He was the one who administered my aptitude test. His eyes landed on me and a hard expression formed on his face. He came walking over and stood next to the man. "What's up Justin?" Logan asked him.

"These ladies need some tattoos right now." The man whose name was Justin answered. "You open?"

"Yeah. I'll take blondie here."

I looked at Logan with a raised eyebrow. Really?

"Alright then you're with me." Justin said to Nina as he put an arm around her and led her away.

Logan motioned for me to follow him as he walked out of the traffic in the center of the tattoo parlor. I followed behind him and noticed that he cut down on the amount of piercings in his face so he only had one in his eyebrow and one in his lip. His hair also had grown out a little bit from what I remembered.

He led me to the back room where he had me sit in a chair as he got his tools ready. "What do you want?" he asked as he pulled on a pair of gloves. I pulled the paper out of my pocket and handed it to him. He opened it and examined it for a moment before saying okay. He had me slip my shirt off and lay on my stomach so he could start the design. "This might hurt." He warned before beginning the tattoo. It hurt at first, but after feeling it for a couple of minutes it didn't hurt as bad.

"So you chose Dauntless…" he said after a couple of minutes. "Are you asking to be killed?"

"Excuse me?" I questioned.

"Erudite and Dauntless are the worst two factions to be in for people like you."

"But I'm not a Di-"

"Ah! Don't say that word. And no you aren't but you're too close to being one."

"But that still means I'm not one."

"You're missing the point here…what's your name again?"

"Ellie."

I rolled my eyes and twitched a little. The needle was getting lower and it hurt a bit. How did Dauntless members get so many tattoos? Then again they probably asked themselves the same question when they were initiates and turned into the tatted up people they are anyway.

"Well Ellie in the second stage is where it will be like walking on eggshells. You have to be careful in the simulations." Logan warned me.

"You don't think I know that? I know how they work. I was Erudite, remember?"

Logan let out an annoyed breath as he continued with my tattoo. "I'm trying to help you here kid." He said.

"Sorry."

"Who are your trainers?"

"Four and Eric."

"Pray to God Four administers your tests. I had initiation with him and Eric last year and he came from Abnegation. He's selfless at heart and will understand your… predicament if you slip up somehow."

Four was from Abnegation? That was surprising. He and Eric both shared similar personality traits, but Four was warmer than Eric was from what I have seen. "Any other advice?" I asked. Logan was at the lower part of my back as he finished up the outline of my tattoo. "Don't screw up." he told me.

Once the outline of the tattoo was done, Logan colored it in. The water was a light blue color and eased into the red and orange which is what color the flames were. It took a while for all the detailing, but it was worth it in the end. The tattoo looked amazing. Logan stood off to the side with his arms crossed and satisfied smile on his face. The tattoo was beautiful. The middle of my back was now detailed with the amazing body art that complimented my back muscles. "Logan…" I said. "It's amazing."

"Thank you. Now that you've looked at it long enough let me but a bandage over it."

Logan taped a bandage up the length of my back and then sent me our front so he could tend to the next customer. Nina was waiting for me and I could see the edge of the white bandage sticking from the bottom of her shirt. She wore a satisfied grin and held her arm out to me. I took it and we went to pay for our tattoos.

**OOOOO**

The parents arrived about an hour before dinner started and all the initiates were gathered in the pit by the chasm. I stood with Nina and waited for the parents to enter. _Please Dad,_ I thought. Then the doors opened and a group of parents wearing either black and white, black, or blue came walking in. When the Dauntless born saw their family they rushed over and greeted them. Nina let go of my arm and rushed over to an older woman with shirt blonde hair who wore a pair of glasses and Candor colors. I guessed it was her mother. Candace rushed into the crowd into a man's arm. He wore Erudite colors and looked too young to be her father so my guess was that it was her brother. As I scanned the parents, I finally saw him. _My dad_. A smile formed on my face and I rushed over to him. He was wearing a pair of blue pants and a blue blazer with his hair neatly combed and his pushed up to the top of his head. I called for him and his head snapped my direction, a smile forming on his face. He held his arms open and I ran into them. At first he stumbled back a bit from the impact, but he was able to catch himself and held onto me tightly. "Oh baby girl…" he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "Oh I missed you."

I pulled back from him and looked at him. "I missed you, too." I told him. He put his hands on the sides of my face and kissed my forehead. "Look at you…" He looked at my new blonde and blue hair and black clothes, obviously ignoring my bruised nose and cheekbone. "You look so grown up."

I smiled and hugged him again. I knew he would come_. I knew it_.

After our little reunion, I guided my dad to the cafeteria where we sat at one of the smaller tables. "How's initiation going?" he asked me as he took my hand in his. "It's good." I said. I didn't want to tell him about my shitty ranking so far because the last thing I wanted was him to worry about me. "We just finished the first stage."

"So now you're going into the second stage?"

"Yeah after tomorrow. We're going to Amity tomorrow to help harvest crops."

"Has it been difficult here?"

"It certainly hasn't been easy."

A short silence fell between us for a moment. I knew he wanted to know why. He wanted to know why I defected from Erudite and transferred to Dauntless. He wanted to know why his only daughter left him and my mom. "I didn't want to be Erudite." I said through a breath. He looked at me. "I didn't want to be in a classroom my whole life. I wanted to be something not everyone could be."

"Why didn't you tell your mother and me you wanted to transfer?"

"You never asked."

"We didn't know."

"That's because you assumed I wanted to be Erudite. You assumed I wanted to be a leader."

My father looked at me with hurt eyes. "You never asked what _I wanted_. What _I_ wanted to do." I explained. "I've wanted to be Dauntless since I knew what it was."

My dad sat back in his seat as he looked at his hands. Part of me wanted to ask why mom didn't come or if she hated me, but I already knew the answer. She didn't want to see me and she may not hate me, but she would never forgive me for what I've done. "You were exactly what Erudite needed." He said quietly.

"But Dauntless is what I needed."

He looked at me with sad eyes and nodded. "It wasn't anything your mother and I did? You wanted to be Dauntless…that's it?"

I nodded. With a quick deep breath, my dad sat forward. "Alright well I want to see if what they say about the cake here is true."

**OOOOO**

My dad was in Dauntless for three hours but it felt like three minutes. We ate dinner and dessert together which he enjoyed. They served burgers and french fries for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert. He loved the cake, but then again who didn't? After we ate I introduced him to Nina, Candace, Max, and Ben. Me, Nina, and Candace are the only ones whose parents showed up. Lori, Ben, and Max's parents didn't come and I felt bad. It wasn't fair that they were punished for making a decision for their life.

Once the introductions were done I showed my dad around the compound before the announcement came that the train was on its way. My heart fell. I just wanted my dad a little bit longer. "Thanks for coming." I said as we walked towards the exit. "I knew you would."

We stopped at the exit and he turned to me. "I love you, Danielle." He said.

"I actually go by Ellie now." I told him.

A smile formed on my dad's face and he hugged me. I hugged him back and buried my face in the crook of his neck. "Ellie…" he whispered. "I'm so proud of you."

I couldn't fight off the tears beginning to form in my eyes. "I love you." I told him.

"Love you, too baby girl."

My father let go of me and wiped the tears from my face. "You stay strong. I know you are going to pass initiation with flying colors." He kissed my forehead and dropped his arms. "I'll see you later."

"See you later daddy." It wasn't goodbye.

He kissed me once more before walking out. I watched him as he walked out and then broke down. I couldn't stop the tears from running down my cheeks. I dropped my face in my hands and let myself cry just this once. There was no one around to see and only I would know. Even though I was lucky to have one of my parents come, it still hurt. I still had to watch my dad leave me and there's a chance I may not ever see him again. Or at least for a long time anyway.

I leaned back against the stone wall and slid to the floor, pulling my knees into my chest. I put my head down and allowed the tears to take over. I have always hated crying. It made my face and neck red and my eyes became puffy. It was also hard to hide that I've been crying. My eyes don't return to normal for ten minutes and my neck and face would be red until I cooled myself down. At the moment though, I didn't care. I needed to let it out. I needed to let all the emotion flood out of me so it didn't get pent up inside of me and drive me insane.

A minute passed me and I was still crying when I heard footsteps. I quickly wiped my eyes and face, trying to erase evidence of me crying even though I knew it wouldn't help. Looking up, I saw Eric approaching. I put my head back down and hid my face. _Please go away…_ I thought. I heard him stop in front of me.

"I could hear your crying from down the hall." He told me. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

I picked my head up and looked at him. He was looking down at me and waiting for an answer even though I didn't want to give him one. I didn't want him seeing me like this at all. I didn't want to look weak which is why I wanted to do this alone without anyone seeing. "Whether my dad came or didn't, it feels the same. It hurts either way." I eventually said. I avoided Eric's eyes, but he walked over and sat next to me. "My parents didn't come to see me on Visiting Day." He told me. "I didn't care that much, but at least your Dad came. He didn't forget you or hold your decision to defect against you."

I looked at Eric and saw he was wearing a relaxed expression. "Just remember that he came in the first place and be happy about that." He said. I gave him a weak smile and put my back against the wall. "My mom didn't come." I told him. "I knew she wouldn't, but I still had a tiny bit of hope she did."

"Yeah you'd think that parents wouldn't hold it against their kids to make a decision for themselves." He replied. I looked at Eric as he said the words I was thinking. He met my eyes and gave me a smile. "You look terrible." He pointed out. I laughed and put my forehead on his shoulder. "Thanks for the boost of confidence." Eric chuckled and I felt it coarse through his body. He put his chin on the top of my head and I felt my heart beat faster. Him being this close was enough to make me nervous and ask myself if I looked alright. I didn't, he pointed that out, but he didn't seem to care. And I didn't care that he was this close to me despite my terrible state. With him, it just didn't seem to matter that much.


	11. Oblivious

**I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, or are just reading the story. I appreciate all the kind words and support greatly!**

**OOOOO**

_Eric_

The day after Visiting Day, everyone was up early to go to Amity. The Initiates and trainers weren't the only ones going; a large group of Dauntless members would be helping out at the Amity farms as well. We were scheduled to be there the entire day harvesting crops and transporting them back to the compound in exchange for fresh produce for Dauntless.

The train ride was quiet since it was only seven in the morning and some of the Dauntless members who had the luxury of sleeping in were leaning against the wall of the train cart with their eyes closed. Since the Initiates were so used to getting up early, they were more awake then them. I saw Ellie standing with Nina and her other friends talking quietly to one another. She was wearing plain black shorts and a black shirt that had sleeves that reached her forearms. Her hair was in a fishtail braid that rested on her shoulder and you could see how her hair transformed from blue to blonde from the bottom to top. She looked my way for a moment and met my eyes with her deep blue ones. She gave me a small smile before turning away.

When I saw Ellie's warm smile, it made it harder to believe that last night she broke down in tears. I was walking back towards my apartment and when I heard her. Luckily no one else was around to, but when I found it was her and I saw her in tears, it was hard to believe what I was seeing. She's been so strong through initiation and I never thought she could look so broken and hurt. Her face was red and her cheeks stained with tears and eyes puffy. I sat with her for a while and once she calmed herself down, she went back to the dorms. Now she was acting like nothing happened and I think that was how she wanted it and that was how I'd leave it.

The train pulled up to Amity and all the Dauntless began jumping out. I was one of the first ones out and bent my knees as I landed to avoid falling over. When my feet hit the ground I ran a few feet to slow myself down before looking around. I have been to the Amity fields a couple of times and it looked all the same. The fields seemed to keep on going forever and they were always well-kept. The day was warm and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky making it a perfect day to be outside.

The rest of the Dauntless jumped off the train and we all walked to the beginning of the fields where we were met my Johanna Reyes. "Hello everyone." She greeted. "I am so glad you made it." Johanna was dressed in an orange dress that went down to her knees and had a yellow wrap across her shoulders. Her hair was down in long waves and she wore a pleasant smile on her face. "Today you will be split into five groups. Each group will be harvesting a different crop. The harvests today will be asparagus, carrots, rhubarb, strawberries, and apricots. You are free to try the produce, but please be respectful to our fields and make sure you fill up the bins with as much as possible. Around noon we will switch and you will be harvesting a different crop."

Once Johanna told us what to do, we broke up into the five groups and got to work. I was in the group who was picking apricots which was the same group Ellie was in. Max was also with her and the two walked together with a bin in each of their hands. The orchard was huge and had all sorts of fruit trees in it. Apricot, lemon, pear…you name it they had it. They were planted in long rows and they were just like the fields…they seemed to go on forever.

I went to the first tree I saw and began picking the fruit from the trees. I put the bin on the ground and reached up, picking the fruit and dropping it in the bin. One of the other Dauntless members came over and picked from the same tree as me. He was what your average Dauntless member. All black clothes, tattoos up and down his arms, and a face full of metal. I looked past him at Ellie who was a few trees down with Max. He said something and she laughed as she struggled to reach an apricot on a high branch. Max noticed her struggle and lifted her up by her waist. She laughed again and plucked the fruit from the branch before Max set her down. A wave of jealousy washed over me at the sight of the two and I went back to picking fruit. The feeling must have shown on my face because the guy next to me looked at me and then in Ellie's direction before looking back at me with a knowing expression. "Tell me that a trainer doesn't have a thing for one of his Initiates." He said. I shot him a glare. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well the look you just gave the guy with blondie over there tells me otherwise."

"Why don't you just shut the hell up and pick your damn fruit."

The guy picked up his bin and took it a few trees away to pick. The rest of the time I picked the apricots off my tree I thought about what he said. He said I had a thing for Ellie. Did I?

**OOOOO**

Around noon my group switched from apricots to asparagus. Now we had to get down on the ground and pick the asparagus from the ground and just our luck, the ground was a little wet so it wasn't long before we got covered in dirt and mud. I was wearing black pants that were getting stained with brown and my arms and hand were quickly becoming covered in the same color. I filled up the bottom part of my bun when Ellie kneeled down next to me. "I am regretting wearing shorts." She said as she picked the asparagus from the ground. "It is going to take forever to wash all this dirt off." I laughed and looked at her legs which were coated in dirt and mud.

"I thought you were with Max." I said.

"I was. He went to go find Ben in the orchard." She told me.

I tossed some more asparagus in the bin and looked at her out of the corner of my eye as she continued to pick the asparagus. She had traces of dirt on her cheeks and her hair was starting to come out of her braid that was once perfect. The bruise on her face was fading away and a yellow color instead of dark purple. She saw me looking at her and smiled before a light blush crept across her skin and refocusing her attention on the asparagus.

We were picking asparagus until three and when we were finally finished everyone was tired, hungry, and covered in dirt from head to toe. After we drove all the produce back to the compound, we were given a couple of bins of each food and then got ready to leave. Since we had to load up the produce on the train, we didn't have to worry about running and jumping on and off the train today. I was pretty relieved because most of my energy was gone and didn't have it in me to jump on and off a moving train.

The train ride was as quiet as it was on the way and the train car smelled like dirt and sweat. I sat by the one door and rested my head against the wall. The metal was cool against my skin and my eyes felt heavy. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew we were pulling into Dauntless. I helped carry the bins into the kitchen and then the initiates were dismissed. They all but ran out of the kitchen and through the cafeteria towards the dorms to shower. Except for Ellie.

"If I were you I would take a shower." I told her as I walked over to her.

She was leaning against the one table in the cafeteria and looked at me when I said her name. "If you think I am going to fight them off for a shower you're crazy." She said through a chuckle. "I'll wait." I stood next to her and looked at the dirt that coated her skin and clothes. I put an arm around her and led her out of the cafeteria. "Come with me." I said.

I led Ellie through the maze of hallways before we reached the elevator that led up to the apartments. I hit the button and the doors opened. We stepped inside and I hit another button that would take us up to my apartment. "Where are we going?" Ellie asked.

"I have a shower you can use." I told her.

"Eric I can wait a little while to take a shower."

"It's not a big deal. And I'm trying to be nice."

She rolled her eyes and then the doors opened. We stepped out and I led her down to where my apartment was. I unlocked the door and let her through. She only took a few steps to get out the way as I closed the door. She crossed her arms and looked around the room even though it wasn't much to look at. I had a bed by the wall which was a huge wall of windows that overlooked the city. There was a small coffee table and couch off to the side and my dresser a few feet from my bed off to the other side. The wall the door was on was just a plain dark grey color when I moved in after initiation last year and I ended up splattering black paint on it. There was a small kitchen area that I rarely used and then the bathroom. It wasn't much, but I didn't need much.

"The bathroom is through there." I told Ellie as I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a clean t-shirt for her. She was still glued to the same spot as before and I laughed a little as I held out the shirt for her. She smiled and took it from me. "Thanks." She said as she walked over to the bathroom.

I listened as she started the shower and heard the curtain being pulled back and then closed again. I changed out of my dirt covered clothes and changed into a pair of black shorts and a t-shirt. I picked up some of the stray clothes off of my bed and couch and put them away. While I bustled around my apartment I thought about Ellie. I noticed her the second she fell onto the net and I pulled her off of it. Part of it was because she came from Erudite, but the other part was that she remembered me. I saw it the way she looked at me after I pulled her off of the net. Her eyes searched me and I saw the gears turning behind her eyes. I looked nothing like I did in Erudite; I made sure of that when I got to Dauntless. I committed to the Dauntless look by cutting my hair and getting my tattoos and piercings. I never talked to Ellie back in Erudite, either. We exchanged a few words in school and acknowledged each other when we were outside of school, but I didn't think much of her and she didn't think much of me. And yet she still remembered me.

I was so lost in thought I almost didn't hear the shower turn off. I looked at the bathroom door and heard the shower curtain be pulled back again. I sat down on my bed and waited for Ellie to walk out. She did a couple of minutes later with her wet hair resting on her shoulder. She put her shorts back on and my shirt over top which was too big for her and almost covered her shorts. "Thanks." She said as she walked closer to me with her shoes in her hand. "I appreciate it."

"No problem." I told her as I stood up from my bed. She ran a hand through her hair and then met my eyes. Her skin was clean and I could smell my body wash on her. To top it off she was wearing my shirt and I liked how it looked on her. I liked everything about her. From her innocent smile to her intelligence and everything in-between. I have seen girls who were thinner and girls who are considered prettier than her. But what made Ellie pretty was that she doesn't know just how beautiful she is. Other girls know how they look and try to show it off more, but Ellie had no idea. She doesn't know how pretty her eyes were or sweet her smile was. Even though her nose is small and her smile is crooked, they were just minor imperfections when you look at the rest of her. And it wasn't just how she looks. She is smart, kind, and considerate. I don't think I have ever met anyone like her before. She made me feel something I've never felt before and I don't know why it was her in particular.

"I should go…" she said. "You know get back to my friends."

I nodded, but noticed she made no attempt to move. She was in arm's reach of me and for a moment I wondered what it would be like to kiss her. The fact that she was an Initiate and I was her trainer was completely oblivious to me at the moment because quite frankly I didn't care. I took a step closer to her and she looked up at me. She wasn't much shorter than me, but it was enough for her to have to look up when I was as close as I was to her. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me so there wasn't any space left between us anymore. Then I pressed my lips to hers. I could tell she was surprised by the way she tensed up in my arms, but she quickly relaxed and I heard the sound of her shoes drop to the floor before her arms slipped around my neck. I slipped my other arm around her to hold her tighter and moved my lips against hers. One of her hands moved to the side of my neck and I deepened the kiss even more before she pulled away. I looked at her and her eyes were still closed. "I can't do this…" she said through a breath and opened her eyes. She moved out of my arms as she shook her head. "I'm sorry." She scurried out of the room and shut the door behind her, leaving me standing in the middle of my apartment. _What did I just do?_


	12. First Day of Fears

_Ellie_

When I was younger, I always imagined by first kiss to be something along the terms of breath taking and amazing. I wanted the kind of kiss that made you weak at your knees and caused your body to feel like it was melting. I wanted my breath to be taken away and my mind to draw a blank so I was in my own little world and only could focus on the kiss. But when Eric kissed me, I got a whole different feeling from what I thought. When his lips met mine, I was in shock at first. Maybe it was because Eric, my instructor, kissing me and I was his initiate. But his lips were soft and his arm was wrapped around me tightly to hold me close to him. Next thing I knew I found myself melting into the kiss and wrapped my arms around him as I kissed him back. I didn't know if I was doing it right because it _was_ my first kiss, but Eric simply wrapped another arm around me. That's when it hit me what I was doing and all but ran out of his room.

Now it was the first day of the fear landscapes and I was sitting with Nina and the others awaiting my turn. Lori and Candace were one of the first few to go in and when they came out, they were shaking. Ben and Max tried comforting them, but the girls brushed them off and walked back to the dorms without a word. While we waited, I tried to guess what I would see in my landscape. I was never a fan of the dark, but the thing about the serum they used for the fear landscapes is it targeted the part of your brain that processes fear which allows it to find fears you never even knew you had.

"Ellie." A voice said. I looked up and saw Four standing by the door as Randy walked out with a horrified expression on his face. I watched as he walked out before standing up with my hands shaking. "Good luck." Nina whispered to me. I smiled at her and then walked into the room. Four closed the door behind me and I took a seat in the chair that was in the center of the room. "Do I need to explain how this works?" Four asked. "Because I get the impression you already know."

"You are going to inject me with a serum that targets the part of my brain that processes fear and it will form a simulation for me to go through that you will be able to see on the computer from the transmitters in the serum. The only way to get out of the simulation is to slow your heart rate down or face your fear." I said before I could stop myself. Four chuckled. "You can take the girl out of Erudite, but you can't take the Erudite out of the girl." He said as he picked up the needle that had the serum in it.

"Techniquely I took myself out of Erudite."

Four pushed my hair to the side and plunged the needle into my neck. It hurt, but it was nothing I couldn't handle it. "The first time is always the worst. A person has anywhere from twelve to fifteen really bad fears." He told me as he set the computer up. I could feel the serum take effect as I laid back. "What are you afraid of?" I asked as my eyes began to feel heavy. A few seconds passed before he answered. "I'm not a fan of heights." Was all I heard as blackness engulfed me.

**FEAR LANDSCAPE**

When I opened my eyes I found myself back in Amity. I was in one of the fields that were near where they grew aquatic plants, but I couldn't see anything other than sky, grass, and a few small ponds. Then I heard the buzzing. As I turned around, I saw a huge swarm of bees approaching me. _Bees_. _**Hell no**_. I took off running the other direction, but the buzzing just seemed to get louder as the swarm approached me. I was running as fast as my feet could carry me and my muscles burned as my heart pounded in my chest. The bees finally caught up to me and encircled me. I tried swatting them away and I could feel a few of them sting me on my arms and neck causing pain to course through my body. Think Ellie think. That's when I remembered that I was near ponds. I stopped for a second and looked for one and saw one a few yards away. I took off in a sprint and felt the pain begin to fade from the stings. It was probably from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. The second I was close enough to the pond I jumped and sunk to the bottom of the bond. The water was cold and I could feel several plants brush my limbs as I travelled farther to the bottom of the pond.

The water disappeared from around me and when I opened my eyes, I was greeted by total darkness. I totally called this one. I began walking and felt my heart begin to race. I have been afraid of the dark for as long as I could remember, but over the years I kind of got over it because of something my mother said when I was eleven years old that helped. _"You aren't afraid of the dark, you're afraid of what could be in it that you can't see." _She was right about that. I walked until I found a wall and used it as a guide until I reached the end of the room and did a lap around it. There was nothing there with me. I was the only person in the room. My heart rate got slower and then the lights went on and I was in the woods.

There weren't any woodland areas in the city. I knew this because I had the map of the city memorized and have visited every faction once in my lifetime. No woods anywhere. I started following the path I was on and it didn't take long for me to realize that I was lost. A fear of being lost. _Great_. How do I get out of this one? I tried going back the way I came, but I ended up even more lost. All the trees looked the same to me and couldn't find my way out of this. I felt like I just kept going deeper and deeper into the woods. Then it hit me again. There aren't any woods in Chicago, I have the map of the city memorized, and I wouldn't dare leave the city.

As soon as I had that thought, the woods went up in flames. A fear of fire. I began to run once again and as smoke began to fill my lungs. I could feel sweat begin form everywhere on my body between the fire radiating on me and the running I was doing. The flames seemed to get bigger and the smoke became blacker as I tried to find an escape. Then I remembered the only escape was to calm myself down. I stopped running and took a few deep breaths. I needed to calm down. I breathed through my nose and out my mouth. I watched as the flames grew even higher and the air became polluted with smoke. I was still afraid, but I managed to calm myself down and the flames went away.

I was still in the woods, only they were burnt to a crisp. So far I had four fears. What was next? Then as I looked down and saw spiders by my feet. _Spiders_. _Nope, nope, nope_. I kicked the arachnids away and they just seemed to multiply on the spot. Y first instinct was to run, but then I remembered learning that not all spiders were aggressive and only some were venomous. So instead of running, I stood still as the spiders climbed up my legs and to my arms. Having spiders crawl up your body was not a comfortable feeling, but I knew it would be over soon so I closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, I was tied to a chair in an empty room. My wrists were tied to the armrests and my ankles were tied together at the floor. My legs were tied at the knees too and I had a rope tied around my chest. Fear of being bound. The rope was tied tightly and it hurt wherever it was tied at it which was just about everywhere. I tried to fight against it, but it was no use. They were tied as tightly as they could have been tied and I didn't think I could get out of this one. I kept fighting against the restraints, but it only made it worse. I stopped fighting against the ropes and tried to imagine it as if they weren't there. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Once again I managed to calm myself down and then the ropes really did disappear, but now I still felt stuck to the chair. When I opened my eyes I found a man whom I didn't recognize holding a gun to my head. A loud scream escaped my throat and he looked at me with an emotionless expression. "Time to die." He said as he cocked the gun and placed it against my forehead again. Fear of death. I was afraid to die? But then I felt moisture fill my eyes and I quickly closed them as he pulled the trigger and a loud boom filled the room.

When my eyes opened I again I was standing and no longer had a gun pointed to my head. But now I was back in Erudite. I was in one of the laboratories my mother worked in where they made the serums. I knew this by the all-white room that was brightly lit and rows of tables with test tubes on them. The periodic table was taped onto the side wall and computes lined the side tables where the data was entered.

A few feet away stood my father with two men holding him by the arms. One was dressed in black and the other was dressed in blue. "Dad?" I said as I began walking towards them, but stopped when I walked into what felt like glass. I looked forward again just as the man dressed in black punched my father across the face. A scream ripped from my throat as I watched my father fall to the ground. The man then kicked him across the face, making him fall onto his stomach. The man continued to beat up my father as I watched in terror and tears streamed down my face. The man in blue walked over to me and met my eyes with a cold stare. "You can't even help your own father…" he said. "How pathetic." I began banging on the glass and kicking it in attempt to break it, but it wouldn't break. Hell, it wouldn't even crack. "You call yourself Dauntless?" the man in blue went on as the man in black continued to beat up my father. His blood painted the white tiles on the floor and I cried and screamed as I stood there and watched. There was nothing I could do to save my dad.

The man in black kicked my father to the ground and pulled a gun from his waist. "_**Daddy!**_" I screamed at the top of my lungs. His eyes found mine for a minute and he looked at me with such a broken look in his eyes. He reached a hand out to me as the barrel of the gun went to his temple. No, no, no, no, no not him. "_**Not you! Daddy**_!" I screamed. Then the man pulled the trigger.

**END OF FEAR LANDSCAPE**

My eyes snapped open and I gasped for breath as I shot straight up from my seat. I felt something wrap across around my back. I felt my heart hammering in my chest and the sweat at the top of my forehead. "You're alright." A familiar voice said. Looking to the side I was met by Four's face. His eyes were filled with worry. "That was…" I began to say. "That was horrible."

"I know." Four said.

I leaned to the side and rested my head on his chest as I took deep breaths. The first few fears weren't that bad, but the last two were something more than fear. It was worse in a way that I couldn't put into words. "You have eight fears." Four told me, his arm still around my back. "That's not a lot being that other initiates have had a few more than that."

"Did they have to watch their dad be murdered in front of them?" I questioned as I sat up.

"The last fear is always the worst one."

I swung my legs around the side of the chair and ran my hands through my hair. "You were only in there for about eleven minutes. The other initiates take about twenty." Four informed me.

"It felt like forever…"

"It does for anyone."

I stood up so I could be eye level with Four. Well almost eye level anyway. He had two or three inches on me. "Next time we do this it's broken up so you only face two or three fears at a time. The first time is to let you know what to expect when we do it again." He further explained. "Can I go now?" I asked. Four nodded and let me leave. My heart was still beating a mile a minute.

**OOOOO**

After everyone had completed their fear landscapes we went to dinner and none of the initiates were saying much of anything. Nina and Lori went back to the dorms after they ate and Ben, Max, and Candace were going to go to the pit with some of the Dauntless born. I decided to take a walk and found myself at the Chasm. I leaned against the railing and looked down at the flowing water. Some of it sprayed my ankles as it roared below me. I rested my head on the cool metal of the railing and closed my eyes when a familiar voice sounded. "Bad day?" the voice asked. Looking up and to my right, I found Eric's face looking at me. He had taken his piercings out and he looked a little different without them. "Was your first day of fear landscapes a good day?" I retorted. Eric smiled and leaned on the railing next to me. "I don't think it's good for anyone."

Eric was looking at the water below and I stole a glance at him. I hadn't spoken to him since he kissed me and I rushed out of his room, but there wasn't any awkwardness or tension between us. I didn't know whether or not he looked at it as a mistake or he just did it because it felt like the right thing to do at the time, but I also didn't know if he wanted me to bring it up. Should I apologize for running out? Before I could say anything though, he did.

"About yesterday, I'm sorry." He said as he looked over at me. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I wasn't _uncomfortable _pursay…" I replied.

"Then would you mind me asking why you fled from the room as if it were on fire?"

I laughed. "Yeah I'm sorry about that. But you're my instructor and I'm an initiate and I have already had Keegan and Randy breathing down my neck about meeting up with some guy."

"What?" Eric questioned.

"I guess the two idiots heard me leave some of the mornings when we trained together in the gym."

"Oooohhh."

I let out a breath. "Yeah."

A short silence fell before I spoke again. "Why did you kiss me?" The words flew from my mouth before I could stop them. I wanted to know why he did in fact kiss me, but I was nervous to know the answer.

"Because I wanted to." He told me. "I like you, Ellie."

I blinked a few times. He liked _me_. Me? Why in the holy hell does he like me of all people? "Why?" was all I could think to say. Eric chuckled and stood up straight to turn towards me. "Do you have to have an answer to everything?" he asked. I gave him my best smile and he rolled his eyes. "I just do, alright? But you're right. I am your instructor and I was in the wrong by…kissing you." He said the last part more quietly. "And I promise I won't do it again." I felt my heart sink. "Is it terrible that I want you to kiss me again?" I asked in a barely audible tone.

"You didn't let me finish." He said as he began to walk past me, but stopped when he was next to me so he could whisper in my ear. "I promise I won't kiss you again…until initiation is over." Then he walked off to somewhere else and left me at the Chasm with the biggest, goofy grin on my face imaginable.


	13. Skyline

_Eric_

The second day of fears, it was just Lauren and I in charge of the Initiates. Four had a meeting with Max and the other leaders that would take most of the morning. It was them making yet another attempt to get Four to take a leadership position. They already offered it to him and he declined for whatever reason. If it were me I would take the position without a second thought. Four finished first in our initiation class and they were looking for someone to refill a leadership role, but there was only one position and they were trying to get Four to take it. If he didn't want it, I was next in line for it and there was nothing more I wanted then to be a leader. There were more benefits and better living for leaders which made me keep wondering why Four wouldn't just take the job.

The morning passed in a blur of watching Initiates face their fears. They had a lot of the common fears you saw in people; drowning, suffocation, snakes, heights, being kidnapped, and so on. The fear landscapes always took forever because being that it was only the initiates' second time through, they were still freaking out and didn't know what to do. They only had to go up against three of their fears today instead of all of them and were still taking forever. I didn't blame them though, it wasn't easy for me. I had thirteen fears when I went through the first time, but I only have twelve now. I still find it impossible that Four only has four fears. It's obviously possible, but I can't believe it. Why did he have so few?

Ben was the second to last transfer I had and then Ellie was last. She walked into the room looking nervous, but smiled a little when she saw me. "Hey." I greeted as she walked further into the room and sat down. I looked at her in the corner of my eye as I got the syringe ready. She had black skinny jeans on and a loose black sleeveless shirt on that had tears in the back so you could see her tattoo a little. Her tattoo took up the whole middle of her back and it was incredible. She was pretty bold to get such a big tattoo as her first.

I couldn't ignore the expression on her face, though. She looked scared. I set the syringe down and turned around, meeting her eyes with me. "You'll be alright." I told her. "Just calm down."

"I'm trying…" she told me, her voice an inch tall.

I reached over and took her hand in mine. "You're brave, Ellie. Just do what a Dauntless would do."

Ellie squeezed my hand back in return, a half-smile appearing on my face. I released her hand and picked up the syringe again. I looked at her and pushed her blonde and blue locks off to the side so I could have better access to her neck. I raised the needle and gently stuck it in her neck. She tensed a little bit, but quickly relaxed as I injected the serum. I pulled the needle out and watched as she laid back in the chair. My eyes stayed glue to hers as I watched her struggle to keep her eyes open. I brushed some hair off of her forehead and then watched as her eyes began to flutter close.

I turned towards the computer and clicked a few buttons before I brought up the fear landscape on the screen. She was in Amity, surrounded by ponds and grass. It wasn't long before bees went chasing after her and she took off towards the closest pond. She jumped into it and then that took her to her next fear. I was already impressed on how she was doing. Her next was being afraid of the dark. I couldn't see anything on the screen, but I could hear her shaky breaths and footsteps as she moved around the room. Then when the lights came back on, she was in the woods. I watched as she walked different paths and kept turning around trying to find a way out. Then I realized she was lost. It took her longer than the other two fears did, but eventually she found an escape from it and the woods disappeared. The fear landscape was over. It only took her seven and a half minutes.

Next thing I knew Ellie was awake and she gasped for air as she sat up. I turned around and went over to her, putting an arm around her back. "Hey you're alright." I said quietly. She took a few deep breaths as she calmed herself down. I let her have a moment as I entered her results and turned everything off for the day. It was already after twelve and the Initiates didn't have anything else to for the remainder of the day.

Looking back at Ellie I saw her run a hand through her hair. "You okay?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah. I just…really hate bees." I offered her a hand and she took it, standing up out of her chair. "What are you doing the rest of the day?" I asked. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Probably getting lunch and then going to the pit, why?"

"Come with me first?"

"Where?"

"Just somewhere."

She thought for a moment before nodding. "Let's go out the back." I said as I placed a hand on her lower back and led her to the door in the back of the room. I led her down the hallway walking next to her, our shoulders barely touching. Once we were through the pit I led her through the one exit that took us up a flight of stairs to the roof. It was the roof on top of the housing complex, so it wasn't the same one they were on the day they arrived in Dauntless. It was higher up and you got a better view of the city.

Once we were on the roof, I saw Ellie's expression change. I had come up here so many times the effect was numb to me, but this was her first time up here. She looked at the view of all the buildings and skyscrapers across the city and smiled to herself. "Thought you'd like it." I said as I walked over to the railing that was around the perimeter of the roof. The top of the roof was pretty clear with the exception of a few vents scattered around, so there was plenty of space to walk. I leaned my elbows against the railing and looked out at the city, Ellie walking over to join me. A comfortable silence fell between us for a few minutes before she spoke up. "Danielle." She said. I looked at her with a confused expression on my face. "What?"

"Danielle." She repeated. "It was my name in Erudite."

At first I was a little confused, but then I remembered the night she got lost in the compound and I asked her her name when she was in Erudite. "Why are you telling me now?" I asked.

"I don't know." She answered. "It just felt like the moment to tell you. But I was Danielle in Erudite, but here, in Dauntless, I'm Ellie."

I smiled at her and she smiled back. I thought back to what I said last night about not kissing her until after initiation is over and I knew it was going to be difficult because I wanted to kiss her now. I wanted to take her face in my hands and kiss her right here right now on this roof where no one could see.

"Thanks for bringing me up here." she said as she looked out at the city again. "It really is beautiful."

"Yeah it is." I said, not taking my eyes off of her.

She must have sensed my eyes on her and turned to look at me again. A blush crept across her cheeks and I looked out at the city. "Since you now know three of my fears, can I know three of yours?" she asked. I scoffed. "Why do you wanna know?"

"You literally got to look inside my mind today." She reminded me. "I think I deserve to know a little something about you."

"Okay." I said. "Water. I never liked water. How appropriate right?"

"The choosing substance for Erudite."

"Yeah. I also don't like dogs. Never have and never will."

"The aptitude must have been hard then."

"Yeah it was. I think that was what triggered that fear quite frankly."

"Alright one more."

I thought for a moment. I gave her two pretty basic ones, so what else was there. I had ten more to choose from. "I was always afraid of needles." I told her. "So going into the fear landscape itself meant facing _that_ fear." I heard Ellie hold back a chuckle. "What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Nothing." She said. "It's just…"

I looked at her and waited for an answer. "You're so intimidating, you know? You look like you have lived in Dauntless your whole life and nothing could break you."

"Something always is capable of breaking someone." I replied.

"I know, but needles?"

"What about your bees?"

"Oh come on they are flying after me!"

It was my turn to chuckle and so did Ellie. "I should go back and find my friends." She said as she stood up straight. "Thanks for bringing me up here."

"Yeah no problem." I said, upset that she was leaving. I wanted her to stay a little longer, but I bit my tongue. I listened as her footsteps got farther away, but then they were coming towards me again. Before I could turn, I felt a hand on my shoulder and Ellie leaned down close to my face and pressed her lips to my cheek. "I didn't promise anything." She whispered before taking off towards the stairs. I turned around in time to see her blonde and blue hair bouncing behind her as she ran and disappeared down the stairs. A smile formed on my face. Initiation couldn't end any sooner.


	14. Final Days

_Ellie_

All of the initiates spent several days going through their fear landscapes facing a few of them at a time. My first few were always easier to go through then the last few. I knew how to escape the bees, the darkness, being lost, the fire, and the spiders, but being bound, facing death, and watching someone I love be murdered in front of me without being able to help them always took everything I had out of me. There was nothing I could do about being bound so I ended up just calming myself down and when it came to facing death, I fought back. I didn't think about tackling my killer to the ground until my third run through. And my last fear, sometimes it was my father and other times it was my mother I had to stand by and watch die in front of me. I ended up screaming so loud it felt as if my throat was going to start to bleed and my eardrums would burst. I broke down in tears and bashed my fists against the glass as hard as I could trying to break it, but it wouldn't even crack in the slightest.

That's when it finally hit me. Glass is made by melting several minerals together at extremely high temperatures. Silica is the form of sand that is the main ingredient and is combined with soda ash and limestone which is then melted in a furnace to make glass. Unless other materials are added to make it stronger or change the color, it's just regular old glass that is made to make windows. With enough force, physically, it should break. The glass should break.

Now I am on my last run through before the final test and I have yet to save my parents from death. As I entered my fear of death, I found the barrel of gun at my forehead. "Time to die." The man said. I jerked my head to the side and lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his torso and tacking him onto the ground. The gun was knocked from his hand and slid across the floor. I climbed off of him and grabbed the gun. I sat on my side and aimed it at him. He looked at me and my finger squeezed the trigger, but I didn't pull it yet. His eyes locked with mine before I closed them and pulled the trigger.

When I opened my eyes again I was in the Erudite lab, separated from my father and his killers by a piece of glass. I looked at the glass and examined it more carefully. Just from the feel of it I knew it was no more than just regular glass. _It's just glass_ I thought. The man in the black began to beat up my father and I stepped back so I could kick the glass. I kept thinking that it was just glass and I should be able to break it. Then I heard it as my foot made contact with the glass a third time. It was a small crunch. Looking at the glass I saw it begin to crack. I looked up and saw the man in black was just about done with my father. I smashed onto the grass harder and harder and then…finally…it shattered. I looked as the glass fell to the ground and I rushed ahead, tackling the man in black to the floor before he could pull out his gun.

Next thing I knew, I was back in the fear landscape room. I did it. I saved him. My eyes opened and I took a deep breath as I came back to reality. I sat up and saw Four looking at me with a surprised expression on his face. I pushed my eyebrows together and shrugged my shoulders. "What?" I asked. "How did you do that?" he questioned.

"Do what?"

"The glass. You broke it."

"Wasn't I supposed to?"

Four sat down on the stool behind him. "You broke it with your foot." He pointed out.

"It was just glass." I explained. "Physically, it should have broken with enough force."

Four gave me a questioning look and I let out an annoyed breath. "You know back in school when we learned about faction history?" I asked. He nodded. "Well we learned about all the choosing substances and how Candor has glass. My teacher then went into this who talk about the different kinds of glass that is made." I explained. "The glass keeping me from my father was regular old glass that with enough force I could break."

Four looked at me carefully as he processed what I said. "Is that how you get through all your fears?" he eventually asked. "What do you mean?" I retorted.

"By thinking like an Erudite."

"I guess. My mind just goes into default mode from what I know."

Four stood up. "Tomorrow at the final test, find another way to break the glass." He told me.

"Why?"

"Because I'm telling you to. You'll make unwanted questions arise if you break the glass yourself."

"But-"

"Use what you have around you to your advantage. Now go."

Four went to set up the computer for the next person and I decided to give up on any more questions and left. On my way out, Randy and Keegan shot me cold glares. I just ignored them and went to find my friends.

I went to the cafeteria where Nina and the others were already. They were all getting used to their fear landscapes so it wasn't as quiet anymore like it was the first day. I grabbed my lunch and sat down as they carried on with their conversation. Max had his arm around Candace and Ben had his around Lori. May I say for the record that I called this? The lovebirds finally admit to their feeling the second day we went through our fear landscapes.

I took a bite of my burger and looked at Nina as she talked about getting another tattoo. "I now understand why Dauntless get so many tattoos." She said. "They are awesome." I chuckled and allowed my eyes to wander the cafeteria. There were Dauntless members eating and laughing and carrying on which made me smile. Soon I would be a Dauntless member.

As my eyes wandered, I saw Eric eating with a group of Dauntless. He wasn't looking my direction, but he was smiling and then laughing at something someone else said. I observed him for a few moments and couldn't help but think why he was interested in me. He never did give me a reason. Maybe it was because we were connected to the same faction and he got to know me better than the other initiates. But I wasn't much to look at. I knew I wasn't unattractive, but there were other girls prettier than me. I knew I was thin, but I didn't have a good as body as some other girls. I was smart, that was obvious, but occasionally I seem like a know it all. I can't help that though sometimes. The bottom line is Eric is the kind of guy who could have any girl he wanted and there was a pretty girl walking though the room every five minutes around here. So why me?

"Ellie?" a voice sounded. Turning my head I saw Lori looking at me. "Huh?" I said. Everyone began laughing. "I want your opinion on what I should get for my next tattoo." Lori explained.

"Why don't you get something on your other arm?" I suggested.

"Such as?"

"I don't know."

"Oh wait I know! Can someone come with me to the tattoo parlor?"

"I will." I offered.

Lori smiled at me and we stood up. She kissed Ben's cheek before linking her arm with mine. "See you guys later." she said as we walked towards the tattoo parlor.

The tattoo parlor wasn't as packed as it was the last time I was there, but there were still a lot of people getting tattoos. I saw Logan hanging up some designs on the wall as Lori looked for an artist to do her tattoo. I still didn't know what she was getting since she wanted to surprise everyone. I figured that while I was here I could get another tattoo. I already had my Erudite and Dauntless inspired art, so I figured I'd get something more original this time around. My back already had a good amount of ink on it so I thought about getting something on my arms or legs. Looking down at my legs I decided to get something there.

"Back already for another?" a voice asked. Looking up, I found myself looking at Logan. He was in a black muscle shirt, making his muscular arms very visible. "Yeah." I said with a smile. "Are you open?"

"Yeah, follow me." he said, motioning to a room in the back. I waved to Lori as another artist took her to another room for her tattoo.

When Logan and I got into the room, he asked what I wanted. I looked at my legs again and got and an idea popped into my head. "Can you do stars?" I asked. Logan nodded and told me to take a seat. I laid on my stomach and told him I wanted five stars going up each of my legs. He got the needle ready and started my tattoos. "How are the fear landscapes going?" he asked.

"Fine." I answered.

"You aren't manipulating any simulations or things like that?"

I chuckled, but thought back to earlier. Did I manipulate the simulation by breaking the glass? I don't think I did. I never knew whether or not I was in a simulation so I couldn't manipulate it. "No." I answered. "But I only have eight fears."

"Looks like you're in second for fewest fears in Dauntless then."

"Who's first?"

"Four."

"Four? How many-" I stopped myself because then I put the pieces together. He only had four fears. _That's_ why everyone called him Four. I feel pretty dumb now. "How does he only have four fears?" I asked. Logan looked up at me from doing my tattoo before shaking his head. "I don't know." He said as he went back to doing my tattoos. He was at the back of my right knee at this point. "I guess he isn't afraid of a lot of things, but everyone's still afraid of something."

It fell silent after that when I thought of something. Eric said he was afraid of needles, yet he has tattoos. I guess he overcame that fear pretty quick. But then again the only tattoos he had were the ones on his forearms and neck. He wasn't highly decorated in ink like most of the Dauntless members, but it was still enough to make him scary looking.

After Logan finished the stars on my right leg, Lori poked her head in. "Hey." She greeted. "I'm done, what about you?"

"She'll be another half an hour." Logan said as he cleaned the skin of my left leg.

"Want me to wait for you?" Lori asked me.

"No you can go ahead. I'll see you back at the dorms."

"Okay."

Lori disappeared and I forgot to ask to see her tattoo. I'd see it soon anyway. "Do you want these stars filled in?" Logan asked. I shook my head. "No I just want the outlines."

A half an hour later, I was sporting my star tattoos on my legs and they looked awesome. "Thanks Logan." I said. "You are officially my go to tattoo artist." He laughed. "I'm honored. Now get going, I have a dozen more people who want tattoos." I gave him a smile and then left him to his work.

Once I paid for my tattoos, I made my way back to the dorms. Walking through the compound was always a little creepy since it was almost as if you were walking through tunnels rather than hallways. The air was cool and it smelled like stone no matter wherever you went. Except I was growing accustomed to the scent and learned to love it. The cold air was manageable as long as I had a jacket on.

I was almost to the dorms when someone rushed out of the hallway that led right and grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me back until my back met the hard stone. When I looked up I was met my Randy's face. "What the hell is your problem?" I half yelled as he held me against the wall. "How do you do it?" he growled. "How do you get through the fear landscapes so fast?"

"Don't play dumb with me! How do you do it?"

"Get off of me!"

I tried shoving him off of me but his grip was strong on my shoulders as he held me against the wall. "Not until you tell me how you do it!" he yelled.

"I said get off!" I yelled back.

I put my hands on his shoulders and forced him down as I brought my knee up and drove it into his stomach. I did it twice and then pushed him away. I went to run away, but he grabbed my arm and threw me onto the ground. He went to grab me again, but I kicked him in the chest as he bent over. He fell backwards and went to rush past him, but he grabbed my ankle and tripped me. I fell onto my stomach, but rolled onto my back and kicked him across the face. His head went with the blow, but he grabbed me and pulled me up before throwing me into the wall. I hit the side of my head on the stone and saw stars as I slid to the floor. He came over and grabbed again and pinned me against the wall. "Tell me!" his voice boomed. Next thing I knew he was being pulled off of me and thrown to other side of the hall. Then I saw it was Eric. "Get the hell out of here Randy." He said in a tone that made a shiver go up my spine the way it was so low and threatening. "And if you go near her again or after any of the initiates again you're done."

Randy laughed. "You won't have someone coming to your rescue all the time, Ellie." He taunted. Eric walked over to him and grabbed him by the front of the shirt before slamming him into the wall. "So help me God Randy if you touch her again…I will end you." I looked at Eric in pure shock at how threatening and scary he was right now. I don't think I have ever seen anyone in my life this way.

Eric shoved Randy down the hall and he looked back at me with a devious smile. "I get it now." He said. "You two are a thing right? What do all Erudite stick together?"

"No, but I don't like it when my Initiates are attacked so do yourself a favor Randy. I'll do you the favor of pretending this never happened if you do the same." Eric warned, his voice still low and deep.

"Whatever."

Randy disappeared down the hall and Eric turned to look at me. He walked over to me and looked at me up and down. "Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded. "Thanks." I said quietly.

"What was about?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "He thinks I know a way to get through the fear landscapes faster." I said. "I am just gonna go back to the dorms. Nina and the others are waiting."

"I'm walking you back."

I was going to object, but then I figured it was pointless and allowed him to walk me back. The walk was quiet and I could feel the anger radiating off of Eric. I didn't know how to make this situation less hostile other than reaching down and interlocking my fingers with his. The halls were clear since everyone was normally in the pit at this time so I didn't see the harm in it. When Eric squeezed my hand back, I allowed a small smile to appear on my face.

When we got back to the dorms I dropped his hand to go inside, but he stopped me. "If he's in there-"

"My friends are in there, too. Nothing will happen." I cut him off.

He looked at me with a worried expression, but I smiled in reassurance. "I'm okay, Eric." I told him. "A little shaken, but okay thanks to you."

Eric leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead. This surprised me. It only lasted for a second, but I looked back at him in surprise. "You made a promise." I reminded him.

"I was never good at keeping promises."

"Oh really?"

"Well ones I hate keeping anyway."

I blushed slightly before disappearing into the dorms. Two more days. Then initiation was over. Final test and then final rankings. _Two days._


	15. Last Test

_Eric_

The day of the Final Test, all of the Initiates are put into a room together and brought in one by one to through their fear landscapes in front of the Dauntless and Erudite leaders. We weren't expecting Erudite present at the final test, but according to Jeanine Matthews it was an important mater relating to Divergents. She said they found several after initiation in the other factions and the Final Test would allow them to make out who could be a Divergent. I noticed Ellie's father in the small group that accompanied Jeanine and realized she didn't know he was here. My eyes followed him as he took a seat with Jeanine and the others in the seats by the Dauntless leaders. Lauren, and I were in charge of bringing in the Initiates in and giving them a final "pep talk" before they went into their fear landscapes which meant that was the only time I had to tell her.

I didn't get a chance to see Ellie at all today since I had to help set everything up for the Final Test. When I saw Randy walking with Keegan, it took everything I had not to throw him in the chasm. I was walking back from a meeting with Four and heard Ellie yell. I recognized her voice and took off to find her. When I saw her fighting off Randy, anger coursed through my veins and all I saw was red. I wanted to beat the living shit out of him when I saw him with her hands on her, but knew if I did I'd be the one facing the larger consequences. I was a Dauntless member and his trainer and he was just an initiate who would just get a slap on the wrists most likely. Me? Something a lot worse would have happened.

The Initiates were brought in by the letter of their last name, so there were a few people ahead of Ellie. Lauren brought in the Dauntless born and I was bringing in the transfers while Four was in charge of injecting them with the serum and running the simulation. The first few up were Dauntless born, but the first transfer was Keegan. The room they were in was just down the hall from the Final Test room which was large and brightly lit with a chair and computer in the center of it. The Erudite and Dauntless leaders sat off to the side in rows of chairs while Lauren and I stood off to the side and watched the initiates go through their simulations on the big screen. Four was next to the Initiate the whole time since he was administering the serums and watching the computer screen to make sure everything was working.

After Keegan went there was another Dauntless born and then it was Ellie's turn. I walked down the hall to the room we had the Initiates were in and saw Ellie sitting with Nina and her other friends. "Ellie." I said. She looked up and saw me in the doorway. "You'll do great." I heard Nina say to her. Ellie gave her a smile and then stood up. She walked over to me and I saw Randy's angry glare on her as she crossed the room. "Should be easy for her." He commented. I was about to say something, but if Ellie could ignore it so could I.

As soon as the door shut, I led Ellie down the hall as I walked beside her. "You should know something." I said. "The Erudite leaders showed up here. I had no idea they were coming, but your dad is in there."

Ellie stopped in her tracks and looked at me. "What?" she gasped. "Why?" I stopped and turned to face her. "Jeanine Matthews and the rest of Erudite are looking for Divergents and want to be present for the Final Test in case any slip up." I explained.

"Eric…" Ellie said. "I can't do this in front of my dad."

"Why not?"

"Because he's in my fear landscape."

I fell silent for a moment. "Why?" I questioned. Why would he be afraid of him? "He isn't the fear it's the fear of being helpless against a situation I can't stop. It's him being killed in front of me." she told me.

"You have to do this, Ellie. There isn't another option."

"If he's in there, Eric I don't know if I can."

"You have to. You're Dauntless, Ellie inside and out. You can do this I know you can."

Ellie looked at me with her big blue eyes and I took her hand in mine. We started walking again and I didn't let go of her hand until it was absolutely necessary so no one saw us. She walked to the center of the room where the chair was and took a seat as I went back over to Lauren. I looked over and saw her father sit up in his chair at the sight of his daughter. I turned my attention back to Ellie and watched Four as he picked up the syringe and injected Ellie with the serum. He said something to her, I couldn't make-out what, but right after he did she was already slipping away into her simulation.

When the simulation began, it showed Ellie up on the screen in the Amity fields. She got away from the bees quickly and managed to escape the darkness easily as well. When she got to being lost it took her a bit longer, but not too soon later the trees went up into flames. I didn't know her other fears passes the one of being lost, so this one was new to me. I snuck a glance at Ellie's father and saw him leaning his elbows on his knees. One of the men next to him put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. When I looked back at the screen, Ellie had gotten out of the fire and then was faced with spiders. Once she beat the spiders, she was bound to a chair. She started to panic for a moment hear and thrash against the restraints until she got her bearings and calmed herself down. After she pulled that off, she had a gun pointed at her head. I uncrossed my arms at the sight and watched as the scene played out. "Time to die." The man with the gun said. Ellie launched out of the chair and tackled him onto the floor before he could fire a shot. She grabbed the gun and pointed it at the man's head. She met his eyes for a second in a stare before pulling the trigger.

The next fear showed her back in Erudite. She was in one of the laboratories where they made serums and her father was across from her, but they were separated by a wall of glass dividing the room. A man dressed as a Dauntless member began to beat up Ellie's father and I turned my attention back to him across the room. He had a look on his face that wanted to look away, but he couldn't. The other Erudite were looking at him, but his eyes were glued on the screen. I looked back and saw Ellie banging on the glass before looking behind her. It looked like she was thinking something over in her head before taking a deep breath and looking around. She grabbed one of the chairs by the lab tables and looked at her father being beaten in front of her. A man dressed as an Erudite approached the glass and met her in a cold stare. "It's just glass." She said to him before throwing the chair into the glass causing it to shatter. She ran and tackled the man dressed as a Dauntless to the ground and away from her father. Once her father was safe, the simulation ended.

Ellie woke up the way she did in practice rounds: gasping for air and shooting straight up in her seat. Four put a hand on her shoulder and said something to her before she stood up out of the chair. I saw her look back at her father who had a heart broken expression on his face as he watched his daughter be led out by another Dauntless member. When I looked back at Four, he had a look of relief on his face.

**OOOOO**

After the Final Test, the Erudite left but not before Ellie's father could approach me. "You're Eric, right?" he asked. I nodded. His eyes were red and he had wet cheeks signaling he was crying. "Could you just tell Ellie…can you tell her that…" he couldn't seem to find the right words, but I knew he what was trying to say. He wanted me to tell her he loved her and that he'd always be her father. I've seen it already and knew that's what he wanted her to know. I put a hand on his shoulder which made him stop talking. "I'll tell her." I told him. He gave me a nod and then went back to the other Erudite members.

I figured I'd see Ellie at dinner, but she wasn't there. She didn't come on the cafeteria at all and after what happened with Randy I got nervous. I stood up and walked over to her group of friends who were sitting at their normal table. As I approached the table, the conversation dyed down and the group got a look of worry on their face. "Where's Ellie?" I asked.

"Dorms." Nina answered. "She said she wasn't feeling good."

I turned and left the cafeteria to go to the dorms after that. After seeing Ellie's full fear landscape-which was only eight fears-I'd get why she would be in a mood after having her father there. From what I gathered about him from her they were close before she transferred and he most likely didn't take it easily. Most parents have a hard time dealing with their kids transferring and ask themselves a million questions of why, but then never take the opportunity of Visiting Day to find out. Maybe it's out of anger and sadness or they don't want to find out that they were the reason their kid defected. That's cowardice to me in every definition of the word. But then again if they don't come and show that they don't care about you anymore, it's easier to forget them and move on.

When I walked into the dorms, I saw all of the transfers already had their things packed. After the Final Rankings and a huge party, they were assigned jobs and apartments. Everyone had small bags on or next to their beds ready to go. No one was in the room other than Ellie, who was curled up on her bed wrapped in a blanket. I walked over to her bed quietly just in case she was asleep and kneeled down next to her bed. Her blue eyes opened and I saw she was trying to hold back tears, but her eyes still were wet. "Ellie…" I said.

"Don't say anything." She told me. "Just don't."

She sat up and removed the blanket from around her. "It's faction before blood and I am trying to let him go and him being here today wasn't helping that." She added.

"That's why it helps when parents don't come to Visiting Day sometimes." I said.

She shot me an angry glare, but it was replaced with an annoyed expression. "I just..." she began. "The way he looked at me. He looked at me like I was the cause of his suffering and it killed me. This faction before blood thing always bothered me…"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you're basically saying you have to forget everyone you've ever loved and everything they've done for you because you're part of something new. My parents loved and cherished me in every sense and I still left them. Their only kid left them because she wanted to be something…"

Ellie stopped and I looked at her as she grew more annoyed with herself. "I don't regret choosing Dauntless." She said after a few moments. "I met my friends, I got to know you, but…leaving my parents the way I did is something I won't ever to forgive myself for because that was my faction before for sixteen years. You can't just forget that."

I stood up and sat on the bed next to her. "No one is asking you to forget." I told her. "But this is the part of your life where you call the shots for yourself. You made new friends and after tomorrow you will have a new life and if you're still interested a boyfriend." Ellie chuckled. "I'll choose you if you choose me." She said. I smiled. "I chose you the day I offered you my help."

The two of us sat there a little longer before going back to the cafeteria. The rest of the night I only had one thought on mind.

_After tomorrow, she was all mine._


	16. New Life

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Divergent. Just my original character and plot ideas**

_Ellie_

I woke up the next morning to Nina jumping on me. "Get up!" she said happily. "It's time for our last breakfast as Initiates and then Final Rankings. I rolled over onto my back and Nina moved to sit on the foot of my bed. She was already dressed and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. I rubbed my eyes and found myself being shaken by the shoulders. "Come on!" Nina half yelled. I laughed and heard chuckling to my right. Looking over, I saw Ben. He was dressed as well and had an amused smile on his face. "Okay I'm up!" I yelled as I looking back at Nina. She smiled and crawled off of me.

I threw the covers off of me and got dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and sleeveless shirt with my hair down and wavy. Once I had pulled my boots on Nina took me by the arm and all but dragged me from the dorm with Ben in tow. We went to the cafeteria where Candace and Lori already were waiting. They had trays of toast and muffins in front of them for everyone and waved us over. Looking around I saw all of the Initiates were excited and having all sorts of conversation. I smiled at the buzz of happiness when I saw Eric across the room with Four and Lauren. My eyes stayed glued to him as I made my way to my seat and when he turned his head, he caught my stare. He gave me a smile and I smiled back. Then motioned at the clock on the wall where it read seven. Final rankings were in less than an hour. "Ellie!" My attention was turned away from Eric and to my friends. It was Nina who said my name. "What job do you think you'll take?" she asked. I shrugged. "I guess I have to see my ranking first."

"Come on you smoked everyone in the fear landscapes and the final test." Ben noted. "You were done in less than eight minutes."

"Practice makes perfect." I replied. "Plus after the physical stage it will only take me so far."

Nina looked at the floor as she remembered our fight the last day. Our rankings dropped a lot because we both forfeited and she still felt guilty. "Hey." I said. She looked at me. "It's okay. We made it through initiation and we both did well in the last stage."

"Yeah, but I had thirteen fears and you had eight. How much better could I have done?" Nina pointed out.

"You had a good time for the amount of fears you had. Just keep your head up."

Nina gave me a reassuring smile and then the mood went back to happy. We all kept the conversation going all throughout breakfast and I was pleased to have tried the last muffin in the cafeteria. It was pumpkin and delicious. But my all-time favorites were the pistachio and banana nut.

Once breakfast ended, the Dauntless leaders entered the cafeteria. All the chatter died down as they came to the center of the room. "Initiates stand." Max, the leader, said. All of us Initiates stood up without hesitation and looked at our leaders. "Today is your last day of initiation. All of you have successfully made it this far and it is my pleasure to announce that no one threw themselves into the chasm this year as well. Here in Dauntless, we believe in ordinary acts of bravery in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. But always remember there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy. Do us proud."

All of the Dauntless members began clapping and the Initiates did as well. I looked at Nina and the others with a smile as others began yelling and shouting, filling the cafeteria with noise. "All Initiates to the pit for final rankings!" Four's voice yelled over the noise. Nina and I linked arms and Ben grabbed Candace's hand while Max took Lori's. We all ran to the chasm in a crowd and when we arrived there was a large board in the center of the pit. Eric and Four approached it and looked at the group of Initiates. "These past several weeks was no easy task." Eric began. "We know that first hand, but it is time to congratulate all of you on passing Dauntless initiation. Once you see the rankings, initiation will officially come to an end." Eric looked at me as I said this and I couldn't fight off a smile. "Then you will pick what job you qualify for and be moved into your own apartment."

"And the final rankings are…" Four broke in as he turned the board on.

The board lit up and showed every single Initiates' name and rank. I worked from the bottom up and as I got further up the screen, I wondered where my name was. Then I saw it right next to the two. I got second. I placed second in initiation. **I placed second in initiation!**

I was staring at the screen in disbelief when I felt someone shaking me. I turned and was met by Nina. "I got fourth!" she yelled. "And you got second!" Nina threw her arms around me and it took me a second before I hugged her back. I looked at Ben and Max hugging Candace and Lori before kissing each of their girlfriends. A smile spread across my face in self-satisfaction as I hugged Nina. I placed second in Initiation. For a while I thought I was in danger of failing after my ranking dropped in the first stage. Right now, I was feeling extremely grateful for my eight fears.

There were cheers all around as the initiates celebrated their rankings. I looked over and saw Randy looking displeased. He placed second in the first stage, but he dropped to twelfth after the second stage. Now I knew why he went after me in the hallway. He knew his ranking was going to tank and needed a way to stop that from happening. He looked over at me with an angry expression. I cocked an eyebrow at him. Sucks to be him I guess.

Once everything calmed down, all the initiates were brought to the offices in the order we were ranked to pick out our jobs and get our housing arrangements. A Dauntless-born placed first in Initiation, but he also placed first in the rankings in the first stage. Apparently he had twelve fears, but got through them extremely fast. After he took a leadership job and got the keys to his apartment, I was up next. I settled on a job in the intelligence center where Four worked and also volunteered to train next year's initiates. They handed me the keys to my apartment and said it was on the top floor. It was a floor above where Eric lived.

I went back to the dorms after that to get my things and I kept looking around for Eric. He wasn't in the pit or near the chasm, so I figured he was off somewhere else with Four. It got pretty crazy after the rankings were up so I didn't see him leave the pit, but after that I couldn't find him anywhere. I figured I would see him at the party tonight so I didn't dwell on it. On the last day of Initiation in Dauntless, all the new members are welcomed with a huge party in the pit. Nina and I planned to get ready together once we were settled in our new places and had the right kinds of clothes. Right now all I had were a few pairs of jeans, shorts, and some basic shirts. The other girls and I saw a lot of more appropriate party attire the first time we went shopping. Dresses, skirts, blouses, high heels, all sorts of things.

I took the elevator up to my apartment and followed the hallway down to the door. It was room C12 and halfway down the hall. I approached the door and put the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. When I walked inside, I let out a breath at the sight. It was amazing. The place was a bit bigger than Eric's place and had huge windows along the one wall and a full sized bed was right in front of it. There was a small couch and coffee table by the door and the kitchen area was on the far side of the room. The bathroom was just as nice and similar to Eric's with the stone shower and large mirror. I walked around my new space a couple of times and flopped down on the bed. It was mine. I had a place to call my own and I felt free. I felt so free.

I began to hang my clothes up in the small closet I had so nothing got wrinkled and kicked my boots off next to my bed. I looked out the window as I hung up my last shirt and smiled at the sight of the city. It's like I could see everything and nothing at the same time. I could see the buildings and streets and houses, but I couldn't see anything actually happening down there. But the view was beautiful and the sun was high in the sky, signaling it was getting to be around noon.

Just as I closed my closet, there was a knock on my door. I rushed over to the door and opened it, figuring it was Nina or one of the other girls, but found an even more pleasant site…Eric. I smiled at the sight of him and he smiled back. He was dressed in black pants and a tight black t-shirt_, _the same thing as earlier, but he had his eyebrow piercing in now. "How do you know where I live?" I questioned sarcastically.

"I asked the office." Eric answered.

"And what do I owe the pleasure to seeing you at my door?"

"Initiation is over."

"I know."

Eric took a step closer to me and I dropped my hand from the door as I met his eyes with mine. He stood so he was only an inch from my face. His eyes were locked on mine as his arm curled around me and pulled me into his frame. I put my hands on his shoulders and my eyes glanced at his lips before I could stop them. "I said I chose you." He said in a low whisper. "There's still the question if you're going to choose me." I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes to be level with him. I let my lips hover right in front of his, only an inch between them. "I think you're one of the best choices I've ever made." I told him. He smiled and then he finally, _finally_ pressed his lips to mine.

It was just like the first kiss, but now he was surer of it this time. His arms were wrapped around me in a tight grip while mine stayed secure around his neck. He took a few steps forwards to get us out of the hall and kicked the door closed with his heel. I smiled in the kiss as he deepened it and ran his hands up my back. It felt so good to kiss him. I wanted to again for so long and now I finally was. The world seemed to just melt away and all I could focus on was Eric and how soft and warm his lips were against mine. I never wanted to pull away, but the burning sensation for air became apparent and I pulled away from his lips. I opened my eyes and was met by his looking back at me. I smiled. "It was really worth waiting for." I told him. He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "Yeah…" he said.

I brought my arms down from around his neck, but his grip on me didn't falter. "Are you sure?" I asked. "You know...about wanting to be with me?" I was having a feeling a sudden sense of insecurity. I don't know why, but I was. "Are you?" He retorted as he released.

"It's just you're so…you."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"You could have any girl so why me?"

Eric looked at me for a moment before responding. "Because you didn't do anything to make me like you. You were just…you… and I ended up getting feelings I didn't know I had." The words made me smile and I couldn't stop myself from slipping my arms around his torso and kissing him again. He put his hands on the sides of my face and returned the kiss. I could feel his smile against my lips and allowed one to form on mine. Right now, everything was perfect.

**A/N I intended for this to be a bit longer, but I realized halfway through I wanted to write the party scene in Eric's POV. Anyway I hope you all liked it!**


	17. May I Have This Dance?

_A/N: Hey Everyone! You may be happy to know that I am not dead or dying which was the cause for prolonged absence from updating. I had a lot of summer work I had to catch up on and I said I would take a break from writing fan fiction until I got it done. Unfortunately I am not completely done with it all and I still have some left to do, but I have been working like crazy the past couple of weeks on it and thought I deserved a break. I was also on vacation for a week earlier this month and figured since I left you guys on a happy note with no cliffhanger, it was alright for the long update gap. Anyway this is just a chapter I wanted to write for you guys to give you something because I want to get the rest of my work done before the start of August so I can write as much fan fiction as I can before school starts again. Okay enough of me, time for the new chapter!_

_Disclaimer: Ugh these get annoying. I don't own Divergent or anything from the franchise. Just Ellie, my OCs, and original ideas. _

**OOOOO**

_Eric_

After leaving Ellie's apartment with a smile on my face and slightly sore lips, I made my way to Max's office. He said it was about the leadership spot that Four has now turned down two or three times and was now available to me. I knew I was going to take it, hell I have been waiting for this day to come. If Four wanted to spend his days on the computers instead of help run the faction, it was his choice and I now had the chance I have been waiting to take.

When I walked into his office, I found Max sitting at a table putting some papers away. His office was plain with black walls and a basic table chair with a laptop and lamp on it that sat in front of the window in the back of the room that overlooked the city. The floor was grey stone with a black throw rug in the center of it and a shelf off to the right with some books on it I doubt he's ever touched. By the looks of it, they were just faction history books used for decoration based on the amount of dust they were collecting. I knew they were faction history books because each of the book spines had the symbol of each different faction on it.

"Eric," Max greeted as he set his papers down. "So glad you could come by."

I walked over to stand in front of the table he was at. "It's no problem." I replied plainly. Max was wearing your basic black Dauntless clothes and had on a jacket that went down to the back of the middle of his thighs. He wore it all the time and served almost as a second skin for him. "As you know Four has turned down our final offer for the leadership position and we are in desperate need for someone to refill the empty slots." He explained.

"Am I going to be able to refill one of those slots?"

"Before I offer you anything or set anything in stone, I need to know something."

"What's that?"

"I need to know where your loyalties lie."

I pushed my eyebrows together at the statement. What was that supposed to mean? Did he suspect me of being disloyal to my faction? "Let me rephrase that." He said as he placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Are you willing to do what is necessary for the safety of this city and the factions within it?"

"Absolutely." I answered, growing more curious.

"What I am about to tell you is not leave this room, are we clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Erudite and Dauntless are working together as of last week. We both agree that Abnegation should not be running our city and are figuring out a way to put Erudite in charge."

I blinked a few times. "You wanna overthrow the government?" I questioned.

"That isn't what I said. Jeanine Matthews and I are going to get together and sit down with the Abnegation officials to work this out fairly and logically so it works out for everyone."

"And what if Abnegation doesn't wanna step down?"

Max stood up straight as he looked me dead in the eye. "Where do your loyalties lie, Eric? Because Abnegation is going to stop running the show one way or another."

"Does Four know about this?"

"No, he doesn't. The only people that know about this other than the Dauntless and Erudite leaders are you."

I shifted onto my other foot. This was insane. What was there plan if Abnegation didn't step down willingly? Figuring I asked too many questions already, I didn't ask. Plus it was Abnegation. They were a bunch of Stiffs who would step down to the two strongest factions. Maybe I was worrying over nothing and probably was. "You have my word I won't say anything to anyone about this. And my loyalties lie here, with Dauntless. Whatever happens in the future, I will stand by Dauntless." I told Max. He nodded in approval. "I knew you'd choose the right side, Eric. Just know that if you breathe a word to anyone you'll end up in that chasm."

"I understand." I swallowed.

"Good. Welcome to the leadership, Eric."

**OOOOO**

The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur as I settled into a new office. It was similar to Max's, only the walls were stone and I had a desk instead of a table. Once I got everything in order there, I went back to my apartment to get ready for the party tonight. I told Ellie I'd see her there before I left her place earlier today and was eager to see her again. To make it look like the relationship between us didn't start brewing until now, we made a small plan that I'd ask her to dance at the party and play it off as the start of the relationship. Ellie was wary of suspicions being raised that her relationship with me helped her get a better rank in initiation if people found out that we were "together" during initiation. I told her my idea for the plan and to leave the rest to me. The only loose end was Randy when he saw how protective I was of her the night he went after her that night in the halls, but after my threats to him I was certain he wouldn't be a problem.

Once I took a shower, I put a little gel in my hair that was getting a little long since I haven't gotten it cut since initiation started. I put on a pair of black jeans and button up shirt with sleeves that reached my forearms. I decided to put my eyebrow piercings back in and then pulled on a pair of plain black boots. The guys in Dauntless always wore the same kinds of clothes, but the girls on the other hand always wore snazzy dresses to these kinds of things. They went all out with high heels, short skirts and dresses, and went home with someone at the end of the night. I was looking forward to see Ellie dressed up because I remember her saying Nina was going to "drag her against her will" to buy new outfits.

Once I was ready I grabbed my keys and left my apartment, locking the door before I left, and headed down to the pit. By the time I got down there, music was already playing and most of the initiates who were now members were engaging in conversations with members who have been members for a while with a drink in hand. Guys had girls on the dance floor and laughter and conversations filled the air. I smiled to myself as I watched the scene. Every day I am more and more glad that I chose Dauntless.

I made my way over to where Lauren and Four were having a conversation with another member, Zeke, who was in me and Four's class last year. I stood with them and partially listened as Lauren talked to Four and Zeke about another faction-wide paintball game since all of this year initiates were now members. Every once in a while the faction splits into two teams and have a huge paintball fight across the entire headquarters. It takes a few days to clean up the mess, but it's probably the most fun thing we do in Dauntless. Well, that and the zip line.

As I stood, I looked around for Ellie or Nina knowing the girls would most likely be together. It's hard to pick a person out of a crowd when they are all wearing the same color, but the thing about Ellie is I could pick her out of any crowd. She was just too noticeable to go unnoticed. Everything about her screamed look at me from the blue in her eyes to the way she carried herself when she walked. Maybe it wasn't like that to other people, but that's how it was for me.

A few minutes passed before I turned by head and saw the familiar blonde hair with blue ends. Ellie came walking in with Nina while Ben and Max escorted Lori and Candace to the dance floor. The moment Ellie walked into the pit though, my eyes were glued to her. Her hair was down in curls and she wore a light make-up, but her lips were a bold red that made them stand out. She was dressed in a simple black dress that had thin straps and went down to the top of her knees. The bottom of it was loose and swayed when she walked and the muscles in her long legs popped from the heels she was wearing. Everything was so ordinary, but on her it looked extraordinary. She was so beautiful and it took me this long to see just how beautiful she was.

Ellie looked around the crowd and when her eyes met mine she smiled. She mouthed hi to me and I mouthed hi back with a smile on my face. She looked down and I could see the blush creep across her face despite the distance between us. Nina pulled her out of my sight and I felt someone hit my arm. "Dude you've been looking in the distance for the past two minutes." Zeke joked. "What the hell is so fascinating?" Zeke looked across the room to try to find what I was looking at, but looked at me when he didn't say anything.

"I will see you guys later." I said as I left the group of three to find Ellie.

I could feel the three pairs of eyes on me as I walked away, but didn't care at all because Ellie soon came into my sights from where she stood with Nina and two guys I recognized from my initiation last year. They were both Amity transfers and by the looks of it one of them, Jack I think his name is, had Nina completely subdued while Ellie looked unimpressed by the other as he talked. I walked over and she noticed me and smiled. "Hi Eric." She said calmly, but I can tell she wanted out of the situation. "Hey Ellie." I replied before looking at the others. "Nina, Jack, and…"

"Colin." The guy who was originally talking to Ellie said.

"How does it feel to be official members?" I asked the girls.

"Glad that initiation is over." Ellie answered with a smile. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling myself.

"Same here." Nina seconded.

At that moment a slow song came on and I knew this was my chance. Jack led Nina to the dance floor and before Colin could get a syllable out, I spoke up. "Wanna dance?" I asked as I held out a hand. Ellie put a fake surprised look on her face. "Uh sure." She stuttered out as she slipped her hair into mine. "It was nice meeting you Colin." Ellie said as I led her away to the dance floor.

As soon as we were out on the floor, I turned towards Ellie and rested my hands on her waist. Hers slipped around my neck and I pulled her a little closer. "Do I have some competition to worry about?" I asked sarcastically. She chuckled. "No." she assured me. "Nina and I met them when we were shopping today and she told them we'd make sure we'd say hi to them here."

"And you weren't taken by Colin's charm?"

Ellie laughed. "Not at all."

A few moments passed before I spoke again. "You look amazing." I told her.

"I feel too tall and like I am going to trip in theses shoes." She answered.

It was my turn to laugh. "I promise to help you up if that happens, but you do look stunning."

Her cheeks reddened. Just then the song ended and a new one started. It was faster, but not too fast like some of the songs before was. Her hands moved off of my shoulders, but I quickly removed mine form her waist and grabbed her one hand. "One more dance?" I asked. She smiled and said okay. I spun her once and then pulled her close to me before we began to dance to the beat of the music. One dance turned into a few more and even when my legs began to get tired and throat got parched, I kept dancing with Ellie.

At the end of last dance, Ellie and I went to go get something to drink. She stuck to water and I did too, not wanting to drink tonight. I wanted to remember every moment clearly. It was already getting late and I could tell Ellie wanted nothing more than to get those shoes off. Even though the heels weren't as high as some other pairs I've seen, they still looked uncomfortable to wear. "Why don't I get you home so you can take those shoes off?" I said to her, leaning closely to her ear so she could hear me. She turned her head to look at me and nodded. "Please." I chuckled and set my cup down to offer her my arm. She slid her through mine and I led her out of the mess of people towards the hall where the elevators were.

The elevators were down at the end of the hall and even though we were getting farther from the party, the music still bounced off the walls and echoed all the way down. "Thanks for tonight." Ellie said. "I had a lot of fun."

"So did I." I replied.

Just then I felt Ellie's arm slip out of mine and turned just in time to see her fall to the ground. She landed on her side and immediately sat up on her arm. Before I could ask is she was alright, she started laughing. "I knew it…" she said through her laughter. I smiled and then held a hand out to her. "Are you alright?" I asked. She shook her head. "No. My feet and ankles are killing me because of these damn heels." I looked down at her shoes and then back at her before kneeling down by her feet and taking the dreaded things off. "Problem removed." I told her as I held my free hand to her again. This time she accepted it and I pulled us both up. "On a scale one to ten how bad was that?" she asked. I chuckled at her embarrassment and slipped and an arm across her shoulders and carried her shoes for her.

Ellie's floor was the one right below mine, so I walked her to her door. When we got to her door she unlocked it, but didn't open it. "Thanks for carrying my shoes." She said. I handed them to her. "No problem." I told her. "And you made the fall look graceful by the way."

"I did?"

"No not at all."

Ellie scoffed and went to open the door, but I stopped her by grabbing her waist and turning her around to face me. Her back was against the door and I stood in front of her with my hands firmly gripping her waist. "Not everyone can be graceful though." I added. She smiled and I leaned down quickly to kiss her. I heard her shoes drop to the floor and then her arms were around my neck. I pulled her closer and parted my lips to deepen the kiss which only added to the moment. Her lips were soft and her scent was intoxicating. She smelled of honey and vanilla and it matched her perfectly. I couldn't help but softly bite her lip which earned me a small sound coming from her throat. When I pulled away, I was met by her blue eyes. Our faces were still close and I could just see the life in her irises. "See you tomorrow?" she asked. I kissed her once more. "Absolutely." I whispered against her lips. She smiled and then disappeared into her apartment for the night while I went to mine. Tonight was the night people knew I liked Ellie and that she was soon to be off limits even though to me, she's been off limits for much longer than that.

**Well I hoped you liked it and I read the new Four books by the way and since I started this before they came out, I am still going on with my original plan. I read all the books in one night (I'm not kidding) and I guess Eric has always been pretty cold from what we read/learn. There are also a few other details in the books that really wouldn't line up with the story concerning the whole leadership ordeal and a few other things, but like I said, I planned this before they Four books came out and will be carrying on with what I planned. Well I hope to write another chapter as soon as I can, but school is priority!**


	18. A Day in Dauntless

_Ellie_

_One Week Later_

The sun is too bright. I determined that after my first night shift working in the computer rooms with Four, another guy Zeke, and a few other people. Zeke was in the same initiate class as Erica and Four and was actually a pretty cool guy. He had a good sense of humor and made the time pass a little quicker by cracking jokes, but it was still a long night. After staring at security feed on the computer and saving virtual files from ten at night to six in the morning, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more to sleep. So I dragged myself back to my apartment using whatever energy I had left and pulled my shoes and clothes off on my way to the bed. By the time I hit the mattress I was in my underwear and there was a trail of clothes from the door to my bed.

After the end of initiation party, all the new Dauntless members were taught the ropes of their new jobs. Nina took a job in the tattoo parlor, Ben and Max are on the City's security force so they work crazy hours, and Lori and Candace settled on working in the infirmary. They were always busy with the losers of fights being wheeled in with broken noses and bloody knuckles. What everyone else was doing made my job seem boring, but I liked what I picked. I also would get to train next year's initiates which was something I was most definitely looking forward to. But until then I was on the computers. The first few days I was being taught how to use all the software and programs, but I already knew most of it. I learned it in Erudite. The only thing I really did need to learn was how to work the security since it was different in Erudite then it is in Dauntless.

As far as Eric and I went, our relationship was moving at a slow pace. He told me a couple days ago that he got the leadership position he has wanted for a while now and I was happy for him. He's been in and out of meetings the past week so we only got a chance to see each other in the cafeteria during meals. Some people still give us odd looks when he put his arm around me or holds my hand, but I don't mind. My friends still tread lightly around him when we were all together, but they were getting used to it.

Now I was curled up in a ball of warmth in my bed ready to sleep until noon which was exactly what I did. Working the night shift was awful, even with the company of Four and Zeke. By the end of nights I had baggy eyes and looked half dead. I was still asleep when a knocking on my door woke me from my slumber. The second I opened my eyes, the sun streaming through my windows all but blinded me. "Come back in an hour!" I called out as I pulled the covers over my head. The person knocked again and I groaned. "I'm off the clock!" Whoever it was knocked louder and I let out another groan before pulling myself out of bed. The cold air hit my bare skin and goose bumps formed on almost every inch of my body. I walked over to my closet and pulled out a black long sleeved shirt and sweatpants to pull on. "One second!" I yelled as I pulled my shirt on and then my pants. I rushed over to the door and unlocked it. Opening it, I found Eric standing in my doorway. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and pants with his boots half unlaced and his hand behind his back.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I need a reason to stop by to see my girlfriend?" he retorted.

"When she worked all night yes!"

Eric chuckled. "You weren't at lunch."

"I was asleep."

"I can tell."

Narrowing my eyes, I let out a breath. Now I felt self-conscious. My hair was a tangly mess, I was wearing loose clothing, and I looked half dead. "Did you need something?" I said through a breath. "Or can I go back to bed?" Eric brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a large white paper bag. "I brought lunch to you." He said with a smug smile. Part of me wanted to smack it off his face but I ended up blushing. "Cheeseburger?" I asked. He nodded. "Pepper Jack cheese?" He nodded again. I opened my door all the way and dropped my arm from it. "You may enter." I turned around and went to find a hairbrush while he closed the door.

I went into my bathroom and stood in front of my small sink and mirror. I'm surprised the mirror didn't break. I looked awful. My eyes had bags and my skin was pale while my hair had too many tangles to count. I grabbed my hairbrush and got all the knots out before washing my face with hot water. Once I dried my skin, I found Eric in the kitchen plating two cheeseburgers and French fries at the counter in the middle of the room. "You didn't eat in the cafeteria?" I asked as I walked over. He looked up at me and smiled. "No I wanted to spend some time with you today." I blushed and walked over to the counter. He pushed the plate to his right towards me and I instantly picked up my burger and took a bite. I let out a satisfied sound. It was _so_ good. I heard Eric chuckle as he took a bite of his.

"Thank you." I said after I was done chewing.

"You're welcome." He replied. "So how was your first night shift?"

I grunted as I went to pick up some fries. "Long and boring, but I had Four and Zeke to keep me company."

"Eight hours with those two?"

"They aren't that bad."

Eric always seemed to have something against Four in particular and I didn't know why. Ever since I met Four he seemed like a good guy and was nothing but helpful during initiation. So was Eric during the first stage, but Four helped me with the fears and not raising any questions during the Final Test. Maybe it was something that happened in initiation that wasn't any of my business and not worth asking about.

While we ate, Eric told me about being a new leader and how he had a few more days of meeting until he was done and would then settle into the everyday life of a leader. By the end of our lunch, I wanted to go back and lay down for another hour or so before stopping by the tattoo parlor to say hi to Nina and maybe get another tattoo. I put our plates in the sink and when I turned around, I was met by Eric standing in front of me. His hands found my waist and there was mischief in his eyes I was starting to get to know. He smiled and looked at my lips which made me smile. He leaned down and kissed me, softly at first, but it quickly became deeper. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through the short hair on the back of his head. He pulled me closer to him and it forced me onto my tiptoes to be level with him. I moved my lips with his and felt his tongue skim across my lower lip before gently biting it. I couldn't suppress the small laugh at the feeling when his lips went from my lips, to my jawline, and then my neck. I clutched onto him tighter and couldn't ignore his large hands running up my back.

Lately Eric's been more affectionate and I was stepping out of my comfort zone a little more every day. He was my first kiss and first boyfriend so I didn't want to move to fast. So as of right now, sex was not happening. Hell, clothes haven't even come off yet. Key word yet. Like I said, a little more every day.

After a couple of minutes passed, I finally managed to push Eric away. "If you wish to continue this, it will have to be another time." I said as I moved around him. "Okay." He replied, but I could hear the slight disappointment in his voice. Believe me. I really wanted to take his shirt off, but I didn't want to walk into anything I wasn't ready for. I turned around before walking out of the kitchen. "I want to sleep for another hour and I look like a zombie. Another time." I told him before walking back out to my bed. He followed me out and I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked.

"I don't have to be in my next meeting until two." He informed me with a half-smile. "Can I stay with you until then?"

I pretended to think about it. "Hmm." I sounded. He rolled his eyes. "Well as long as you're quiet I suppose you could stay."

I crawled back into my bed and after kicking his boots off, Eric crawled in after me. I laid on my side and smiled when his arm slipped around my waist to pull me closer to him. "By the way, why are there clothes-"

"Silence." I cut him off.

Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he rolled his eyes. But he just held me tighter and I just closed my eyes with a smile on his face.

**OOOOO**

I woke up less than an hour and found Eric completely asleep next to me. His grip on me was looser than what it was, so I managed to turn around in his arms. He barely moved and I looked at his sleeping face. His entire face was relaxed and made him look peaceful. I smiled and gently traced the outlines of his features.

"What are you doing?" he suddenly spoke as his eyes opened.

"Nothing." I said. "Just admiring your face."

Yet another eye roll from my Eric. I laughed and sat up. "I have to go see Nina." I told him as he sat up. "So I am going to get dressed." I went to get up, but was pulled back down by Eric. I laughed as he pulled me underneath him and his lips found mine. I couldn't help put clutch the fabric of his shirt in my hands. There it was again; my mind and logic disappearing which allowed my body to take over. I began to push the fabric up and tried to stay focused on how nice Eric's lips felt on mine and how his hands ran up and down my side. I pushed his shirt up farther, exposing the lower half of his stomach and yes…his amazing abs. He pulled away from me and allowed me to finally pull the piece of clothing off of him. The second his off, his lips were on mine again. I ran my hands across his bare back and felt the muscles underneath my fingertips.

It wasn't until Eric's lips were on my neck and his hands slipped under my shirt that I snapped back into reality and realized how heated things had gotten. I quick pushed him off of me and sat up. He looked at me surprised and I buried my face in my hands. "I'm sorry." I apologized, my face completely red.

"For what?" Eric asked.

"I just…" I dropped my hands to look at him. "I don't think I can…"

Eric crawled over to me and sat next to me before putting an arm around me. "Hey it's okay." He told me. "It isn't a big deal." I looked at him, still embarrassed. "I just don't want to give you the idea of…"

"Ellie, it's alright. If you're not ready, you're not ready. I'm not gonna make you have sex with me."

I put my head on his shoulder and let out a breath. "Thank you." I said. He kissed the top of my head. "No problem."

After that I changed into black jeans and boots, but left on my long sleeved shirt. It was loose and comfortable. Eric and I walked to the pit together before he left to go to his meeting and I headed towards the tattoo parlor. There were a few fights happening and small groups forming around them, people shouting for the fighters to "Give them hell!" and "Finish them!" I was able to get through the mass of people and ended up in the tattoo parlor which surprisingly was not as busy as I assumed.

Nina was at the front counter and smiled when she saw me. So far she got two new tattoos since she started working at the parlor; one on the upper part of her right arm in black ink that wrapped around her skin like a vine with white flowers decorating it and then a dragon on the back of her left calf. Right now she was dressed in a tight black dress and ankle boots with studs on them. She definitely had a thing for fashion.

"Hey stranger." She greeted. "What's up?"

"Thought I'd come say hi." I replied.

"Well hi. How was your first night shift?"

"Awful. I was asleep until like twelve thirty when I got back."

She laughed and leaned on her forearms. "Sounds nice. I've been here all day."

Just then Logan walked over. "Hey it's my favorite know it all." He greeted as he leaned against the side of the counter. He was wearing a similar outfit to mine; long sleeve shirt and black pants. He didn't have any piercings in his face today, but he buzzed his hair and he looked a little thinner. I rolled my eyes at his nickname for me. "I have a name." I reminded him. He shrugged. "It's fun to get under your skin though. Want a tattoo?"

"Why not?" I replied.

He smiled and motioned for me to follow him. I told Nina I'd see her in a bit and then went after Logan. He led me to the normal room in the back and I took a seat in the chair. "What would you like today?" Logan asked as he pulled his swivel chair up next to me and pulled his gloves on.

"Can you do roses?" I questioned.

"I can. How many?"

"Two."

"Where?"

"My stomach."

He picked up his needle and I rolled up my shirt to expose the skin where I wanted the tattoo. I wanted the roses for the same reason I wanted the stars I got on my legs; it connected my back to my parents. My dad and I star watched on our front lawn back in Erudite when the sky was filled with them at night. We'd find constellations and identify them or just lay in the grass and talk about anything and everything while we observed the stars. The roses were for my mother. She loved flowers in general, but red roses were her favorites. There was always a vase of them in our kitchen window and the second they started to wilt, she'd go buy new ones. I could still picture her sitting at the table cutting the thorns off and then putting them into a vase of water.

After the tattoo was finished, Logan bandaged it and told me I was good to go. I paid Nina at the counter and told her I'd see her at dinner. After that I went back to the computer rooms to see if my supervisor, Gus, needed any extra hands since I didn't have anything else to do. "Sure kiddo." He told me. I went over to my computer and logged in with my account name and password and got to work.

Over the past week, I have been thinking a lot about my life. I finally found who I was in Dauntless and I also learned that I was right. I wasn't supposed to be Erudite. I wasn't meant to be a teacher or scientist or doctor. I was meant to be here, in Dauntless, with my friends and Eric. There will always be a piece of me that will and always be Erudite, though. Whether it is the Erudite curiosity or trait of knowing just about everything that can be looked up in a textbook, it would always creep up in me. It might be suppressed, but it was there. You can change the way you look and the kind of person you are, but you're old self is still in there somewhere.

**A/N: I hate to say this, but there are only a few more chapters left until Broken Parts will be completed. This wasn't meant to be a long story and I planned on keeping it under thirty chapters. I don't know exactly how many chapters I have left, but it isn't a lot. I just want to thank everyone for the support and feedback on this story. It means so much! **


	19. Former Initiates VS Instructors

_Eric_

After spending an unbearable amount of hours of being in meetings with the other leaders to understand just how leadership worked in Dauntless, I was finally given my first assignments. They were simple things like dealing with the Factionless loitering in areas they weren't supposed to be and making sure we were getting food donations out as well. I also had to make sure the police were in their right areas doing what they were supposed to do as well as the people at the fence. Ma x hasn't talked to me about the whole thing with what they were doing with Erudite about Abnegation. Personally, I didn't want to get involved right now with any of that. I wanted to focus on my job as a new leader as well as Ellie.

Ellie and I's relationship has been going at a comfortable pace for the both of us. She was my first real relationship if I am being completely honest. I didn't have any girlfriends in Erudite since I knew I wasn't going to stick around my entire life and when I got to Dauntless I've been with a few girls, but it was never something serious. Then Ellie came in with her pretty blue eyes and changed my perspective on relationships. Over the past week and a half we've gotten into one small argument, but it was nothing serious. Plus I couldn't really stay mad at her. This girl was going to be the death of me. _Literally_.

The sound of a knock on my door caught my attention. Turning around, I saw Four and Zeke in my doorway. Zeke had a paintball gun in one hand with folders in the other whereas Four had two paintball guns in his hands. "These are the reports for the week." Zeke told me. "And today is the big paintball fight."

I walked over and took the folders from him. "It's this year's former initiates against the instructors and some Dauntless members." Four told me.

"So you're pretty girlfriend will be on the other team." Zeke added.

Four held out a paintball gun to me and I looked at him. Our eyes met for a moment as I took the gun from him. He never liked me and I never liked him, but we tolerated each other. For both of our sanity and safety. I walked over to my desk and set the folders down. "When does it start?"

As if on cue, an announcement came over the loud speaker. "Attention Dauntless members…at the commencement of this announcement, a faction-wide paintball game will take place against this year's former initiates and their former instructors as well as some of our most well-known Dauntless members. If you are participating in the game, prepare your guns. If you are not a participant, I suggest you find a safe place to stay for the duration of the game. The game will start…now!"

"Let's go guys!" Zeke yelled and rushed out of the office. I cocked my gun and Four and I followed after him, leaving the office wing and working our way to the pit. The pit was the center of the compound which is the same thing as a watering hole for animals. It was the first place you looked for someone and the first place everyone went during this kind of paintball fight.

Zeke, Four, and I got to the pit in about five minutes and took a high position on one of the upper halls that overlooked the pit. We were the first ones there so now it was just a matter of time before others began to show up. With our position, we could pick off people off one by one and it would hard for people to land a shot on us. Even though I didn't like Four and I wasn't the best of friends with Zeke, both of them were good shots.

The first wave of targets came walking in and rushed across the pit to get cover near the tattoo parlor. They were on the opposite team and there were five of them bunched together in a formation they must have made at the start of the game. "One, two, three!" Zeke counted and on three, the three of us fired on them. Red, blue, purple, and yellow splattered on their backs and limbs and they quickly rushed for cover. I laughed to myself quietly and checked the contents of my clip. I still had enough ammo and then the next wave of three targets came through. We fired on them and color splattered on their body. This was almost too easy. Then other people on our team came through and cornered all the new members. They took off down the hallways and I took my clip out to reload. Four handed me some paintballs when someone behind us spoke.

"I told you they'd be up here."

The three of us turned around and found Ellie standing there with Nina, Ben, and Max. "Shit." Zeke said as the other four raised their guns. "Uriah told us you'd take the higher ground. You know him, always helping out the less informed ones." Ben said. Then they fired and splattered us with paint. Red, green, and orange splattered on my test and the stone walls were painted with the remains of the paintballs. The four then turned around and took off and we went after them.

We reloaded our guns as we ran and followed the echo of footprints. It was easy to get lost in these halls and Four, Zeke, and I could use that to our advantage. We knew the ground better than them. We split up and I went down one hall while they went down two other ones. I heard footsteps get closer to me and when I reached the end of the hall, I hid behind the wall. The footsteps got closer and then whoever it was stopped and turned back around. The footsteps got farther away and I quick turned into the next hall with my gun raised and found my girlfriend pointing her paintball gun at me.

"Good thing you didn't pick Amity." She said. "Orange is not your color."

"Very funny. That honesty could have landed you in Candor." I retorted.

We stood there for a moment with both our guns on each other, but neither of us pulling the trigger. "Anyday now would be great." She taunted. "I already got you."

"You want me to shoot you?"

She rolled her eyes and then pulled the trigger on her gun, sending more paintballs my direction. Several hit my legs and shoulders by the time I pulled the trigger on my gun. Her entire front that was originally all black from her clothing became painted with colorful colors. She backed away from me and walked backwards down the hall while still shooting at me. The paintballs didn't hurt, but it was a bitch to get out of clothes.

Ellie disappeared down the halls and I went after her, but I lost her trail. Four and Zeke appeared out of the one hallway, covered in as much paint as me. "I think they're regrouping at the cafeteria. Let's go." Zeke said. Once again Four and I followed him through the maze of hallways, passing stone walls decorated with paint that was beginning to drip to the floor. On the floor were several sets of different colored footprints that led different directions and there were smeared handprints coating the stone as well.

When we got to the cafeteria, there was the group of the opposing team with paint covering them head to toe. In the doorway on the other side, I saw another group of our team getting ready to take action. Once they fired, we came out of the shadows and fired on them as well. They dove underneath cafeteria tables and I ended up sliding behind one as well. I fired my gun from behind the safety of the table, but ended up getting my mouth and neck covered up in red paint.

The chaos seemed to be never ending and wouldn't end until everyone was out of paint to shoot. I was out pretty quick and ended up leaning against the table when I saw Ellie come running over. She slid on her knees over to me and I noticed how much paint she was covered in. Her clothes had a mixture of different colors, but she had green in her hair and blue on her face. "Hey…" she breathed out. "I'm out."

"Same here." I replied. "Wanna see if we can get out of here?"

"You know a way out of here?"

"On three run for the kitchen. There's a backdoor."

"Alright."

I took her hand in mine and counted. "One, two, three!" We pulled ourselves up and ran across the cafeteria together as fast as we could before we reached the kitchen. There wasn't anyone back there except a few cooks. "Get out of here! It isn't my job to clean paint off my floors!" a middle aged woman shouted. Laughing, Ellie and I ran for the backdoor and burst through them to the other side. There were a couple of dumpsters, but to the right was a set of stairs that led to the roof. "Come on." I said, pulling her over to them. We rushed up the stairs and found ourselves on the kitchen roof with nothing in sight. The roof was large and I knew that on the other side was the short drop to the front entrance. I pulled Ellie along to the other side and looked down before jumping to the ground. I bent my knees and landed on my feet before looking up. "Come on." I said up to Ellie as I opened my arms. "I'll catch you. She laughed and jumped down, me catching her slightly. I smiled and set her down on her feet.

"Well that was fun." I said.

"When do you think things will die down in there?" Ellie asked.

"Not for at least another half an hour."

To the right was the hose that people used for hosing off the sidewalk and I went over to it. "Wanna get some of that paint off?" I asked. She looked down at herself and nodded. "Yes please." I turned on the hose. I stepped closer and sprayed the water on her and she let out a small scream. "Oh my God that is freezing!" she exclaimed. I laughed and continued to hose her off. She did her best to get it off of her shorts and sweater, but it would take more than hose water to get it out. I sprayed her long legs and she rubbed the paint off before telling me to get her hair. She leaned over and I got her head wet before helping her ring some of the paint out her blonde and blue locks.

Once she was washed off as best as possible, I handed her the hose. She turned it around and sprayed me, the icy water making me jump. "Told you it was cold!" she laughed. I smiled and did the same as her, making a poor attempt of getting the paint form my clothes and rubbing it off of my skin. When I had to get it out of my hair, she helped me by running her hands through it and squeezing the water and paint from it. I stood up straight and she aimed the hose nozzle at me and sprayed me with the icy water. I held my hands up to stop the water from hitting me. I walked over to her and grabbed her wrists to point nozzle away from me. She laughed and I leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. Even the smallest touch from her made my heart beat faster.

Once we were both reasonably cleaned off from the paint, a decent amount of time had passed and I figured it would be safe to return inside. We walked back into the compound through the main entrance and followed the steps back down to the compound. There were people rushing back to their apartments covered in all the colors of the rainbow with smiles on their faces and laughs escaping their lips. I took Ellie's hand in mine and with water dripping from our clothes, we headed towards the elevators.

Ellie went back to her place to shower and change, but told me she'd come up to my place after. I did the same as she did, shower and change into dry clothes which consisted of a pair of black shorts. I didn't bother putting a shirt on as I picked up a few things around my apartment which were just some clothes were hanging off of chairs and coffee mugs on tables.

Someone knocked on my door and I went over to answer. Instead of Ellie, I found Max standing in my doorway. "Hello Eric." He greeted. "How was paintball?"

"Messy." I answered. "What can I do for you?"

"May I come in?"

"Of course."

Max walked in and I closed the door behind him. He took a seat on my couch and I sat in the chair on the other side of it. "Everything alright?" I asked him.

"Yes, everything is just fine." He told me. "I just wanted to inform you that me, you and the other leaders will be going to Erudite in about two or three weeks to discuss the whole government issue with Jeanine Matthews and Andrew Prior as well as a few other leaders from the other factions."

"You want me to go?"

"Of course. You're a leader now, remember?"

"I know, I just thought since I just became a leader-"

"A new leader is still a leader. But we also need a couple of people from the technical side of things to come along as well. Some of the tech savvies over there have some new programs that they want to teach everyone how to use. So pick two or three people to go and learn the tutorial so they can teach the others."

"No problem. I'll do that first thing tomorrow."

"Good to know."

Max stood up and I did as well. "I'll talk with you another time. Keep doing what you're doing and remember: No one is to know about what is going on between Erudite and Dauntless concerning the Abnegation government."

"Understood." I replied.

With that, Max left my apartment. I was still worried about what was going to happen if Abnegation didn't willingly step down from their position of the government. Between Erudite's knowledge and Dauntless's strength, it wouldn't be pretty. A thousand different things could happen… none of them being good. But I was thinking too far ahead. They haven't even talked to Abnegation about anything yet. And knowing Abnegation, the Stiffs would step down in the snap of someone's fingers. There was nothing to worry about.

Right?

**A/N: I have been so caught up in the Eric and Ellie romance that I haven't included any relationship tension! So the next chapter will have a bit more of that so I get that in there as well as Ellie interacting with her other friends. Just a head's up! As always, please review!**


End file.
